Good Day Sunshine [View all]

[H2O Man]

I was playing this song in my mind while on my daily walk. I've long thought it was one of McCartney's catchier tunes. Plus I love "Revolver." Perhaps that dates me as an old fool, which is fine with me.

Being an old man, I had the unpleasant experience of troubling in walking on some recent days. Being stubborn, I decided to go for walks in my mind. Although I almost certainly burn less calories on mental walks, there is the unique advantage of strolling back to previous times in my life.

In the past few days -- specifically since Joe Biden announced his choice for vice president -- I've had an increased number of conversations with friends and associates on the telephone and internet. They come from a variety of backgrounds: a couple with doctorates in medicine, one in philosophy, a carpenter, a mechanic, a book-keeper at a university, and a few social workers. Without exception, they are of my generation.

One is mourning the death of a child. That is, of course, a brutal fate for any parent. We've been friends for over 50 years, and so she knows I have zero social graces, and is patient when I make an awkward attempt to ask how she is doing. Last night, we had a fairly long talk, and she was able to discuss the pain. Eventually, our talk included lessons that a Clan Mother from the Onondaga Nation taught me decades ago. My friend liked them.

I had been remembering the days I spent at Onondaga while taking one of my mental walks through time. Times change. The Elders I knew then are gone, and now it's men and women my age taking their turn as Elders. I was remembering, among other things, how one of the Clan Mothers had been quietly invited to visit President Bush the Elder at the White House. He told her that despite what "Washington" said publicly, they knew the environment had been severely damaged.

He said that they knew future generations would suffer the consequences, and asked for her advice? In a sense, it was nice that he wanted to talk to her, even if he wanted no media coverage. But it was sad that he thought there might be some magic Native American solution.

She told him, "The only answer is to use common sense. If you pour toxic wastes into the water, it travels downstream in space and time." Around that same general time, she also met with Mikhail Gorbachev. My impression is that he had a deeper understanding of what she was saying. I suspect that is why his leadership would eventually be undermined.

At the beginning of the 2020 Democratic Party's presidential primary season, I decided that I wasn't going to favor any one candidate. I thought they were all good, and I would have been glad to support any one of them who won the nomination. I took that position in person, on FaceBook, and DU.
I had said, before the official start of the season, that I hoped our party would nominate a non-white woman, when discussing the yopic with my son. He asked if it was good to "pick" based upon sex, race, and/or ethinc identity, rather than looking for the best qualified person? I said that we aren't in normal circumstances, and more: I thought that in the 50 state presidential election, Senator Harris would be the surest bet to beat Trump. But, of course, she did not do well enough in the primaries to raise the funds needed to win the nomination.

About half the conversations I've had in these 48 hours were with people thrilled that Biden picked Senator Harris, and half were people hoping for Rep. Karen Bass. I should add that about half are registered Democrats, and half are progressive independents, though this was not a factor in how they viewed Harris as the VP candidate. However, I do think that age played a significant role in people who hoped for Bass to be on the ticket.

I am a progressive, leftist Democrat -- at least in my own mind. However, I have a different understanding of what is possible in politics than I did when I was young. Thus, I am happy with the Biden-Harris ticket. I know, for example, that there aren't magical solutions to crises such as the environment. So when discussing November with everyone, I've said, "The only answer is common sense. If Trump somehow 'wins' re-election, the Constitution is dead."

Peace,
H2O Man