Meet Me In Atlantic City

A relatively last minute (understand that, by my standards, "last minute" can mean only a month of advanced planning) trip to Atlantic City was had by my wife and I this past week.  Why Atlantic City?  Well, I think I've written about this before, but I have this odd connection to "AC".  As a child growing up in a rather modest setting financially, we really didn't go on all that many vacations.  In fact, I think where only two that I can recall, both to Atlantic City (BG:  Before Gambling).  The AC of those days was a dingy but big beach town, kind of like Ocean City, MD, if it were older and more decayed.  Never the less, those were my childhood vacations, and the fond memories are there, complete with rushing to the ocean with my three brothers for that first toe into the salt water.

My wife, on the other hand, also has a something of a connection to the AC area.  Her early years were spent with her family on a religious mission to the Dominican Republic.  When that ended, the transition housing back to the United States was in Ventnor City, NJ.  She tells me that it was there where she learned how to ride a bike.

Both locations, namely the hotel where we stayed as a kid, and the transitional housing, are still standing.

The Sun 'n Sand Motel, back in the 1950's.  I actually own this postcard.  In fact, I bought all of the old postcards I could find on eBay and turned two into a Christmas gift for my older brother Richard.  Unlike what the postcard shows, the hotel didn't actually have a beach view.  There's also some poetic license at work with building's exterior design.

The same building, still standing, in Atlantic City, found during a morning bicycle ride. 

After a little bit of time searching with Google, we also found the transitional housing my wife (and her family) stayed in Ventnor City.  I don't have a "before", but here is a "now" view.

Interestingly enough, many houses in that area, such as the one immediately to the left of this photo, are in the process of being raised off of the ground.

Outside of the history searching, we spent our time walking, eating good food, and enjoying the beach (for all of about two hours, as it as despicably hot outside).  We also gambled a total of $35 on the slot machines, losing it all.  For the record, I don't understand how they work or what constitutes winning.  I also can't conceive of the allure behind gambling.  

Atlantic City is also a very interesting study in the failings of urban renewal, especially when that renewal is predicated boosting one specific industry (gambling) that offers little in the way of trickle-down economics to the masses.

Casino Scape:  The Revel Casino, completely empty (big blue building).  Note the vacant lots.

Urban  Renewal, AC 2016:  Mainly focused on tearing things down.  There are many, many empty lots in the city.

We stayed at the Claridge Hotel, next to Bally's.  It's still got that "old AC" vibe that I remember from my childhood days.

Day.

Night.

All told, it was a nice getaway, and my desire to relive a part of my childhood has once again been satisfied.  For now.

And so it begins with demonizing "them".

It's the trick of despots and dictators alike:  Ginning up a fear and hatred for "them" in order to garner power for themselves.  Put another way, it's creating a need and then offering the sole solution, all in one neat little package.

Look, I get being opposed to "him" or "her"; these people, whoever they are, have names, faces, decisions, records, and actions that can be criticized.  That's fair game, especially in the arena of politics.  Even better is the fact that the accusers can themselves be judged based on the quality of their arguments and how they respond to any push-back they receive from their targets.  It's this kind of give-and-take that I think helps people make better decisions.

All possible value from a give-and-take process falls by the wayside when the target is some nameless, faceless group of people that just don't happen to look or act like us.  Then it becomes simply fear-mongering.  Then it becomes dangerous.

I get it:  Hillary Clinton is a liar.  I don't doubt that actually.  What she isn't doing though is demonizing entire groups and, for example, calling for a religious test for immigrants.  A religious test that, under a possible President Trump, would be applied to Muslims, but in the future could be applied against any other religious group.  What she isn't calling for is the construction of a Berlin Wall on our southern border (a wall which Mexico will never pay for, by the way).  If my choice is the fear-mongering proto-despot or the serial liar, I'll pick the least dangerous of the two, namely the liar.  At worst the United States will not be any better under a President Clinton.  Under a President Trump?  Our very soul as a nation is at stake.

In the end, if you choose to vote for Donald Trump, just do so knowing that your candidate enjoys pointing fingers at, and demonizing the nameless and the faceless, principally because they can't fight back.  Those are the actions of a coward.  He also enjoys scaring you into voting for him.  Don't take the bait.  Don't vote for Trump.  If Hillary Clinton turns your stomach, vote for Gary Johnson.

A Picture That Says It All

They say that a "picture paints a thousand words", well if that's true, then all you need to understand the state of the (former) Republican Party is the following:

(photo from CNN)

Would Ronald Reagan have been found standing in front of a giant sign that said "Reagan"?

This is what the GOP has become:  Another platform for one man to engage in self-glorification.

A Storm is Coming (for Republicans)

The past, present and future of the GOP, all in one posting.

Enter the Gipper
Back in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States.  Love him or hate him, he was elected.  There was much wailing and mashing teeth among Democrats, but the man remained popular throughout his presidency.  He was also, at least by modern day Republican standards, fairly moderate:  He worked with Democrats in Congress (including the legendary Tip O'Neill), supported amnesty for illegal immigrants, and he campaigned with a more or less positive message.  I don't consider myself a fan of the late President Reagan, but contrary to current practices of both parties, it's possible to disagree with someone's politics without demonizing them in the process.

The Hand-off & Fumble
After two terms, President Reagan had to ride into the sunset.  His heir apparent, George H. W. Bush, was elected President in 1988 and served just one term in office.  This is where I think the train went off the tracks.  You see, it wasn't supposed to end that way for national Republicans.  The Reagan-Bush years where supposed to last, maybe forever.  It just didn't happen.  Making it far worse?  The fact that the Reagan-Bush legacy was up-ended by a man who many Republicans loathed as being nothing more than a hillbilly JFK:  Bill Clinton.  George H. W. Bush may have been denied a second term in office, but national Republicans would have their revenge and oust the upstart hillbilly.  While national Democrats may have looked on Ronald Reagan as being nothing more than a hack actor who had a mind (and policy agenda) in lock-step with the 1950's, there never seemed to be a need to beat him at all costs.  They were, instead, content with nibbling at him from the edges (Iran-Contra, Anne Gorsuch Burford, etc.).  With national Republicans, it was outright war against Bill Clinton.  The problem was that they failed, miserably, I might add.

Yes, despite despite investigations and whisper campaigns, atrocious right-wing talk radio attacks, and plenty of self-inflicted wounds, Bill Clinton was simply better than his Republican foes.  The fact that he beat them, and ended the Reagan-Bush dynasty is, in my estimation, what brings us today.

On-Going Fouls
Being beaten by Bill Clinton was simply too much for national Republicans.  That failure brought the party onto a trajectory that landed this year with candidate Donald Trump.  In failing to beat Bill Clinton, the national GOP pumped it's grass roots full of vitriolic steroids, instilling a hatred of all things government and counter to hard right conservatism that even surpassed what Ronald Reagan ever envisioned.  The whisper campaigns test driven on Bill Clinton (remember when Hillary Clinton was both a lesbian and having an affair with Vince Foster?), fine-tuned on Michael Dukakis and perfected by Karl Rove (sometimes against fellow Republicans, such as actual war hero John McCain), became part in parcel of the political process.

End Game
What national Republicans created in all of this was a monster they just simply could never control.  It's painfully ironic in a way:  They campaigned against an "evil federal government" from the seat of the federal government, never stopping for a moment to believe that they might in fact get caught in their own political backwash.  National Republicans don't want to admit this, but they are just as much a part of "the system" as the Democrats they seem to loathe.  It's not just me who thinks this by the way...you can add in millions who voted for Donald Trump (against far more conservative challengers, such as Rafael Cruz).

* * * * * *

This doesn't end well for Republicans.  It simply can't.  Even if they win the Presidency, they've already lost their dream of a national Republican majority.  Donald Trump is a lot of things...most of them evil in my estimation...but one thing he's not is beholden to the national Republican party.  His tormenting of the party during the primaries is proof of that point.  His winning in November though seems (hopefully) unlikely.  Assuming he loses, there will be a day of reckoning for those members of the national GOP that supported him...they know this by the way, which explains the many hedging of endorsement bets by the likes of Speaker Paul Ryan and others.

Mark my words:  No matter what happens in November, a storm is coming for the Republican party.

Best Rush Limbaugh Quote, Ever (& Added Bonus)

I stumbled upon this quote the other day, and it's stayed with me, so it's time to share.

(from THIS site)

In a related...and more serious...note, I highly recommend THIS column by Michael Smerconish:  Are The Voters Really Mad As Hell?  A thoughtful look at how we got in this horrid political place in 2016.  My favorite quote from the article?

"Business motives drive the titans of talk. They aim to maximize revenue from advertising, which requires the attraction of computer clicks, ears, and eyeballs. That goal, in turn, necessitates producing an authentic, stimulating product. The more passion provoked by hosts, the better their shot of capturing and maintaining an audience.

Bold, assertive, controversial content achieves this goal far better than thorough, nuanced, paragraph-long explanations. This incentive explains why the content on talk radio and cable television news has long been a precursor to the provocative language of the stump speeches of Donald Trump and one of his final GOP challengers, Ted Cruz."

Talk radio...as in Limbaugh, Savage and others on the hard right...has NEVER been about informing, educating, or even thoughtful advocacy; no, it's all about business, as in earning revenue through a constant stream of bitter sound bite mental candy to people so that they will buy stuff from advertisers.  It becomes a kind of bizarre mental arms race into the gutter, feeding conspiracy and fostering an attitude of "it's the fault of _________ you are not getting ahead", where the blank could be filled by everything from ACORN to Obama to Black Lives Matter to fluoride in drinking water, all in the name of increasing advertising revenues.  Who needs a thought provoking discussion when you can simply point fingers and call names?

For the record, having listened to Limbaugh over the years (from time to time) and having read some of his work, I'm reasonably convinced that even he doesn't believe half the stuff he says, but he does know how to generate ad revenue.  Hillbilly heroin abuse may have destroyed his hearing, but it's done nothing to dull his keen business sense.

  

Shootings

It all boils down to this:  American society glorifies violence...culturally we somehow believe that problems can best be solved by solutions that inflict harm on others.  With that in mind, are the events of these past few weeks truly all that shocking?  

The solution to violence is never more violence, despite what politicians, talk show hosts and movie markers tell us through their constant verbal and visual assaults.  Nothing...and I mean NOTHING...in this country will change until we begin to see our problems as being rooted in the basic notion that might does not in fact make right.

We need dialogue and respect for everyone, ESPECIALLY those we disagree with.  We need less vengeance.  We need more compassion.  An "eye for an eye" simply leaves everyone blind in the end...a lesson playing out right in front of our very own eyes.

Legacy

As you get older, the word "legacy" gets thrown around in your presence more and more.  "Legacy" as in "what will your legacy be?".  I'm starting to get to that age, and while the question doesn't come around from the outside very often, it certainly pings around in my head quite a bit.  Now I'm not quite sure how to answer it, but fortunately, I do have time.

The one benefit I see from the legacy question is that it does stop and make one think.  Heck, maybe with sufficient ramp-up time I'll end up actually having an answer by the time the very idea of a legacy becomes an actual thing for me.  It all seems to be in the perspective one takes.

On one hand, I know that my children will be a part of my legacy, but that's kind of nebulous, at best.  Yes, I'd like to see my better qualities reflected in my those for whom I've had an opportunity to help raise, but sadly they will also get some of my "not so better" qualities as well.  Anyone for a little side of over-thinking with your naked glazed chicken?  I could go on, but self-flagellation is never a pretty sight.

On the other hand, I would love the idea that something I've noted here, maybe in some small way, might somehow be akin to a breeze that helps alter the course of a Bee (hey, that last line almost counts as an Emily Dickinson poem) every so slightly.  I almost feel stupid even writing that thought, but it is an honest one, so why not?  I'm not looking to change the world, mainly just to maybe change me, and if someone else gets caught up in the (positive) backwash, well, I'm fine with it.  

Now at work, I occasionally get asked something along the lines of "what do you want to do?".  Yes, even folks who work in HR get asked that question.  For many (and I'd note especially those who work in HR) the honest answer is something along the lines of "get promoted".  I understand that answer, even if it's not my answer.  Sure, getting promoted would be nice, but I learned a while ago to detach my sense of self-worth from the notions of corporate rank/title/performance rating.  You should too, by the way, as otherwise you'll just set yourself up for almost continual disappointment.  Anyway, those things are real, in a sense, because they carry stuff like more money with them, but they are also very artificial as well, given that for the most part, they are also highly subjective.  That nasty clerk at the Post Office?  Everyone at Comcast?  God?  They all have something in common:  None of them cares about your work title.

Anyway, and to bring this thought to a close, maybe my legacy is this:  What I want to do...what I want my legacy to be...is to simply have made someone or something just a little better by the time I exit, stage right.

Walking in Redemption

A year ago today I married my best friend, someone who literally grabbed me from the depths and, while she doesn't like to hear this, saved me.

I confess, it feels a little odd celebrating a one year anniversary at age 52, but that's okay, because I firmly believe that no one is never too old to start anew.

So, what does it feel like one year out?

At times it feels as if we've been at this forever.  For the record, we haven't, unless you consider "about five years" to be forever.  We just, for lack of a better way to describe it, "fit".  Not like an old pair of shoes, but more like two pieces of a larger puzzle that, when put together, create a picture heretofore not seen before.  For the record, I've always wanted to use the word "heretofore" in a sentence.  Anyway, I have to gut-check myself via a mental reminder that all of this time is but yet a small sliver of my life.

At other times, I'm still shocked at how my life has changed over the course of what is actually just about ten percent of my existence.  Smart people write about how we truly are the masters of our own existence and that there is always hope.  Years ago that sounded, well, like a nice theory, of the sort that was meant for others but never for me.  Today, I can count myself as a living example of those ideas.  Mind you, sometimes I forget and my thoughts drift back into old habits, but the wonderful reality of my life today is that it has an equally wonderful habit of pulling me back into present reality with lightening speed.

(Early 2011, wandering about)

A circle is complete.

It's not just a one year wedding anniversary; it's more the larger of idea that we all have a shot at redemption.  When you go through something like a divorce, you lose a lot, and I'm not talking about things like money either, as that can always be replaced, or your lifestyle choices adjusted.  Part of my blessing is that while I did truly lose a lot, I didn't lose everything...in fact I kept the truly most important things (see directly below)...and I ended up gaining much more.

(Christmas 2010, with my family)

There's no cosmic or karmic accounting that works here, but I think that life ultimately is about making choices and taking chances.  I'm Not taking "shaving my head and joining a cult on the chance it will lead to true self-actualization" kinds of chances, but more of the "the possible rewards of taking a chance are greater than the risks of staying the same" variety.  It's a way of viewing the world not as a threat to your existence or even as being full of possibilities, but instead viewing yourself as an intricate part of the world.  The trick, if you want to call it that, is to realize that you are a part of the world in the first place.  That's sometimes easier said than done.

(Summer 2011, canoeing in New Hampshire)

So here I am now, writing this as a kind of open contemplation of a life well changed.  I've noted in this blog many times over the years that I  believe we all have a "shot at redemption", a thought that applies as much to me as it does to anyone else.  Maybe even more so.  Prospectively I know from experience that it's sometimes difficult to see that redemption in front of you, which is probably a good thing.  Why?  Well this has never been about redemption as being a destination or goal, something that should be planned for or coveted, but rather it's about a journey.  I don't think we ever achieve redemption, but rather maybe we walk in redemption instead, which happens precisely at that moment when we believe that we, in fact, can.

(Walking in redemption, July 3, 2015)

Here's to everyone's journey walking towards (and in) redemption.

"Redemption is never where you expect to find it."

- Sherrilyn Kenyon

Walking in Redemption

A year ago today I married my best friend, someone who literally grabbed me from the depths and, while she doesn't like to hear this, saved me.

I confess, it feels a little odd celebrating a one year anniversary at age 52, but that's okay, because I firmly believe that no one is never too old to start anew.

So, what does it feel like one year out?

At times it feels as if we've been at this forever.  For the record, we haven't, unless you consider "about five years" to be forever.  We just, for lack of a better way to describe it, "fit".  Not like an old pair of shoes, but more like two pieces of a larger puzzle that, when put together, create a picture heretofore not seen before.  For the record, I've always wanted to use the word "heretofore" in a sentence.  Anyway, I have to gut-check myself via a mental reminder that all of this time is but yet a small sliver of my life.

At other times, I'm still shocked at how my life has changed over the course of what is actually just about ten percent of my existence.  Smart people write about how we truly are the masters of our own existence and that there is always hope.  Years ago that sounded, well, like a nice theory, of the sort that was meant for others but never for me.  Today, I can count myself as a living example of those ideas.  Mind you, sometimes I forget and my thoughts drift back into old habits, but the wonderful reality of my life today is that it has an equally wonderful habit of pulling me back into present reality with lightening speed.

(Early 2011, wandering about)

A circle is complete.

It's not just a one year wedding anniversary; it's more the larger of idea that we all have a shot at redemption.  When you go through something like a divorce, you lose a lot, and I'm not talking about things like money either, as that can always be replaced, or your lifestyle choices adjusted.  Part of my blessing is that while I did truly lose a lot, I didn't lose everything...in fact I kept the truly most important things (see directly below)...and I ended up gaining much more.

(Christmas 2010, with my family)

There's no cosmic or karmic accounting that works here, but I think that life ultimately is about making choices and taking chances.  I'm Not taking "shaving my head and joining a cult on the chance it will lead to true self-actualization" kinds of chances, but more of the "the possible rewards of taking a chance are greater than the risks of staying the same" variety.  It's a way of viewing the world not as a threat to your existence or even as being full of possibilities, but instead viewing yourself as an intricate part of the world.  The trick, if you want to call it that, is to realize that you are a part of the world in the first place.  That's sometimes easier said than done.

(Summer 2011, canoeing in New Hampshire)

So here I am now, writing this as a kind of open contemplation of a life well changed.  I've noted in this blog many times over the years that I  believe we all have a "shot at redemption", a thought that applies as much to me as it does to anyone else.  Maybe even more so.  Prospectively I know from experience that it's sometimes difficult to see that redemption in front of you, which is probably a good thing.  Why?  Well this has never been about redemption as being a destination or goal, something that should be planned for or coveted, but rather it's about a journey.  I don't think we ever achieve redemption, but rather maybe we walk in redemption instead, which happens precisely at that moment when we believe that we, in fact, can.

(Walking in redemption, July 3, 2015)

Here's to everyone's journey walking towards (and in) redemption.

"Redemption is never where you expect to find it."

- Sherrilyn Kenyon