Bedrock

Just before Memorial Day, my Guatemalan student asked why we had a holiday to remember dead people . It gave me a chance to explain that it was intended to remember specifically those who died defending our country and our freedom. I didn’t recall when the custom began, so I looked it up . It started during the American Civil, and in fact southern states didn’t follow the practice until World War I gave them common cause with the rest of the country. Of course, we never simply “remember dead people.” Those whose loved ones have died will never forget them, and a special holiday is unnecessary for them. The rest of us aren’t just remembering them; we are remembering their sacrifice, and not just of those who die but also of those who leave behind loved ones, careers, and safety at a cost of injury, lost opportunity, and missed time with family. As soldiers continue to risk everything in Afghanistan and Iraq, the idea of not forgetting their sacrifice is surely better than the...

Most adults understand that life has few guarantees. How well folks see and accept this reality determines a great deal about how they operate in the world, including choices they make at the ballot box. What amazes me is that candidates make promises and people believe them. Politicians will say anything to gain support and thereby power. Politicians I can understand; they act in their own best interests, regardless of what they say. Those who believe them are harder to comprehend. Children usually trust what adults say, as long as they keep their word, but eventually we all learn that it's much easier to make a promise than to keep it. Even young adult voters should know this. Before I continue, permit me to add this. If we actually held candidates to their promises and their “feet to the fire” when they didn't, we have them making far fewer empty promises. As long as enough of us are gullible and let them off the hook when the truth comes out, they will keep ma...

A “half truth” is an intentionally deceptive statement that contains some element of truth; a half truth is not truth. Such a statement is like a doctor saying, “Half of you doesn't have cancer; therefore you don't have cancer.  A half truth is half lie, and like water that is half sewage, it isn't fit for consumption. Politicians are masters of half truths; Barack Obama is no exception, but he is not alone. In my own personal life, I give people the benefit of the doubt.  In other words, I try to trust people and assume they are being honest with me. However, once a person lies or fails to keep his or her word, that person must then prove worthy of further trust. I can accept that people would want to trust Obama; he has created an image that invites trust, and he made promises that many found appealing, promises of hope and change (though rather vague promises at that). What I don't understand is how people, who desire something different and upbeat, can continue...

Will Rogers said, “All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.” I wonder what he'd have to say now, nearly 75 years after his death? Certainly, a person can't expect anything remotely like simple, factual information in today's media, print or broadcast. What passes for news is heavily slanted opinion in most venues. Anything like objectivity is long gone. Forty-plus years ago, my school sent me to a summer workshop in journalism to prepare me to edit my small-town high school newspaper. I remember vividly the basic tenets of news writing. They taught us the 5 W's of reporting—who, where, what, when, and why. Then, the reporters job was only to present the facts. Opinions didn't belong in news but in features, editorials, and columns with a by-line to identify the person presenting an opinion. Teachers drilled objectivity and impartiality into us, again and again. Little did we realize that the day of such unbi...

Another July 4 has passed, as usual with impressive displays of fireworks filling the sky with color and our ears with the sounds of battles. They offer an interesting irony, as does the day itself in this present age. One of my refugee students asked me to explain this holiday, reminding me that many of us call it “The 4 th of July,” “July 4 th ,” or just “The Fourth.” We have dropped the meaning from the day, just as many of us have dropped our appreciation for what the day should commemorate—freedom and the price in lives that it cost. Unlike nations with many centuries of history, the heritage of the United States is in the vision that created it, not in venerable age or a long-established culture. How strange it is that some of our own people want to return to the very places from which our ancestors came. What is it about the Continent that so captivates the imaginations of elitists here? If Europe is so great, how did the United States manage not only to become the wo...