The "B" Word - Is This Just a Phase?

It seems that lately - well, the past couple of years – that I have been hearing the “B” word more and more. First, I heard it among groups of women referring to themselves, as in “How ya doin’ b*itches?” Then, as a real epithet from others trying to put women down. “You bleeping b*tch!” or “Don’t be such a b*tch!” Today it is gender-neutral, but I’d have a hard time calling a dude a “b*tch.”


There was some attempt initially to soften the word by the bizarre pronunciation, something like “Bee-Otch.” Lame. Then it became a word in the casual vernacular of the young and the restless. And now it even comes in title of movies, books, TV shows (“Good Christian B*tches). What a slap to Christians everywhere. Or would that be a “b*tch slap” to Christians? Seems offensive to me.

As kids, as we became more worldly (and could cross the street on our own), we snickered as we used bawdy language. I, myself, started with hell and damn, righteously defending their use by saying, “It’s in the Bible, so how bad can it be?” Same with ass. Let’s see, something like, “Mary was riding Joseph’s ass as they entered Bethlehem.” I am not sure which Bible version that is from – you get the picture.

Then when we really wanted to be bad, (not in today’s sense of “good”) we might call someone a “b*itch” as a gross putdown. If an adult happened to hear us, we would meekly say we were talking about female dogs. Likely story.

So even though it has been present for some time, that word still slams into my eardrums and is not pleasant. There are so many better words to use when using “b*tch” in a nice way, like “How ya doin’ guys?” Of course, (can you believe it), there are women who are offended by being called “guys” but not by being called “b*tches.”

I continue to hope it is a phase. Like cursing your mother when you were really mad, just to get a reaction. We grew up and out of that (if we lived). Maybe we need to find a replacement, something a little softer and less hard on the ears. Let’s keep to the dog theme, so “How ya doin’ puppies?”

Striving For Mediocrity?

I once wrote about the “Rise and Fall of the American Empire,” at the time more tongue-in-cheek, but as we slog through campaigns and elections I begin to worry that something in the American Enterprise isn’t working.

Some like to say that America is “exceptional” and while that may be true, it is certainly not demonstrated in our seats of government. Despite the pleas from the citizens, the pundits, and even the media, politicians seem willing to ignore the pitfalls of doing nothing.

Doing nothing with the budget, doing nothing about the deficit, doing nothing about serious healthcare issues, and doing nothing about the unsustainable growth of Social Security and Medicare, all seems to be OK. Just push it down the road. Instead the Congress and the President try to one-up each other with cute sayings and epithets that add nothing to the solution. The old adage, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem” is even more true today.

I have written to my senators and representatives begging them to propose some compromise, to be true statesman, and not just partisans who tear asunder our American fabric. Discussion is good, lively discussion is better, but in the end it probably takes a compromise, a bargain, a deal. We used to denounce such back room dealings where senators would make an agreement to vote for one of the opposition’s pet projects in return for support for another on the other side. Oh, I long for those days of “sausage making.” At least there was a product, a movement forward. Today we are stuck; no, we are in reverse, and if something doesn’t happen soon, it will be irreversible.

The Shooting in Tucson

Although not as timely as some of my posts, the wanton killing of six people along with the wounding of 13 others still merits coverage. The act was so heinous it may be one of the events I will remember where I was at the time I heard of it. And that was about 100 miles away in Mesa at our winter home.

I got a text message from my old boss and current friend, Chief Sue Riseling, of the University of Wisconsin Police Department. My wife and I were watching something on our TIVO when the text said that a Congresswoman had been shot in Tucson. We turned on CNN and the story played out as most are now aware.

After seeing nearly back-to-back coverage, we became enmeshed in the stories of the people involved, even the shooter's. Learning that he may be mentally ill was of little consequence to those who lost so much, but it provided a "reason" of sorts for those looking for the "why" of it all. No reason is sufficient or ever justified, but there was at least something to grab onto.

Last Friday, January 21, we took a drive to Tucson to see for ourselves the ever-growing memorials at various sites in the city. My wife had received her first ICU nursing experience at the very same University of Arizona Hospital (now Medical Center) where the victims, including Congresswoman Giffords, were taken.

It was apparent as we drove up to the Medical Center that the idea to visit was not ours alone. Even 13 days later, there were large groups of people wending their ways through the flowers, posters, candles, and other tributes to those killed and injured. We spent time walking the grassy front lawn, taking some pictures, and saying silent prayers as we read as much as we could.

I noticed a young woman who seemed to be organizing some sort of display and I quietly asked her if the Safeway Store, where the massacre took place, was close. It was not, but she offered to sketch a quick map. I found a piece of cardboard and a pen for her. She asked if we wanted to see all of the "Migils." I said, "pardon me?", not sure what she had said.

"Do you want to see all of the 'migils'?" Again, I looked puzzled and she then explained that some of the displays were memorials to those who lost their lives, and some were vigils for the wounded; both words now truncated, apparently, into "migils."

With the aid of her map we made our way to Representative Giffords' Tucson office, and then to the Safeway store on Oracle Road. Both were moving memorials, uh, "migils" as we spent time again reading, thinking, and praying as we walked.

The Safeway Store, now open for business, had condensed the migil area to one that was on the exact spot of the congresswoman's neighborhood meeting, hence the site of the horrendous killings. Being in this spot just 13 days post tragedy was unsettling at worst, but at the same time, comforting at best. The cop in me scanned the people around the area, looking for who knows what, but looking still. It is not always obvious who may be there to hurt people. It likely was not obvious on January 8.

Visiting the area was helpful in a way. The word "closure" is maybe too heavy for someone who had not suffered a personal loss. But we felt better somehow as we drove back to Mesa.

Maybe closure is the right word, because in the greater family we are all a part of, it was personal.

Tucson: Let It Be a Catalyst, Not More Fodder for Blame

Living in Arizona for the winter, only 100+ miles from Tucson, brings home to me the devastation of the senseless murders and wounding done by one sick individual. His time will come to be dealt with fairly and justly. The time for something else may have already come.

The noise from this tragedy has included the "blame game," both from the left and the right. Some would lay this man's rampage on the steps of the political scene over the past few years, which has been undeniably vitriolic. Yet to keep up this blaming is really fruitless, and actually may be non-productive. Instead of working to tamp down the rhetoric, the sides instead ramp it up by saying it was not their fault.

Let's take the Tucson Tragedy out of the mix and just admit that the political atmosphere has been poisonous of late, and not state as fact who may have been poisoned, so to speak. If this massacre is the catalyst for productive discourse in the political arena, then let it be one where we can move positively toward increased civility.

No one expects the left and the right to now come together holding hands around the campfire. There are deep policy differences and there still should be rigorous and occasionaly loud debate on the issues. Let's urge our politicos to just tone down the personal attacks and rank sarcasm that has become de rigueur over the past few campaigns.

Unless you really believe your colleague is a traitor to the USA, thus possibly deserving the death penalty, then don't toss out those bombs hoping to get something positive from the attacks. Unless you truly believe your colleague does not love America or does not want to do what is best for Americans, then tone it down a bit and make your best case for your side using cold, hard facts.

Eschew the hyperbole, the sarcastic vitriol, and baseless personal attacks. Most intelligent Americans see through that babble anyway, so it does little to promote the cause.

I finally have some hope that maybe the vituperative remarks may lessen, perhaps helped by the shocking attack in Tucson. Whatever the impetus, let's contact our Senators and Representatives and tell them to work hard for us in a civil way. And when they do that, as evidenced in the news or press releases, let's write them to just say, "Good work!" They like to get the good comments too. Maybe there is still hope for America.

Many Make the Supreme Sacrifice. What About the Rest of Us?

On a shadow box shelf in our guest bathroom is displayed a paper booklet from the U.S. Office of Price Administration, a World War II agency formed to help the war effort. It is my father’s War Ration Book containing stamps of apparently various values. These stamps were to be used for goods that were being rationed so that enough materiel was available to our troops. Gasoline, tires, meat, sugar, nylon, and silk were some of the many items subject to rationing. Even bicycles were on the list.

On the back of the ration stamp booklet was the following: IMPORTANT: When you have used your ration, salvage the TIN CANS, and WASTE FATS. They are needed to make munitions for our fighting men. Cooperate with your local Salvage Committee.

We ask our volunteer military to fight for us, and they know that there is a possibility that they may have to make the supreme sacrifice. They do so willingly. The current recession notwithstanding, we as U.S. citizens are asked to sacrifice little for this war effort. Instead of a tax increase or a temporary war surcharge, we cry for our taxes to be even lower. We do not need to sacrifice to buy sugar and meat anymore – production is apparently plentiful. Yet the real costs in billions of tax dollars are flowing into the war theatre using borrowing to fund the whole shebang. It is de rigueur to say that we are borrowing from China for our day-to-day expenses so we are financing our war with bonds sold to foreign investors. Not necessarily a bad thing in moderation, but lately we would be in a world of hurt should all those bonds be called.

Raising taxes is anathema to politicians no matter the need. But a war surcharge, with total transparency of the money raised and spent, might actually get widespread approval from the citizens. At least we could see where that money was going.

Of course, the cost of the currents wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far less costly than WW II, when war costs were almost 40% of (then) GNP. Today, the war costs are about 1.2% (2008) of GDP, actually a minor number. Yet few Americans other than military families feel that they are doing anything directly to help with the war effort. Even those opposed to the wars are quick to say they still support our troops. So maybe we should all put a little of our money where our collective mouths are and support our country’s efforts at fighting terrorism abroad. It would be a lot less messy than collecting used bacon grease.

Attention Must Be Paid

Did anyone notice the latest mid-term campaign ads? Did anyone see what the issues were, besides the variety of nastiness used to impugn one another? We heard about health care, good and bad. We heard more about earmarks, the crushing deficit and national debt.

But did anyone hear a political ad mentioning, even in passing, that we are engaged in the draw down from one war in Iraq, and the ramping up of another war in Afghanistan? Did anyone mention the sacrifices that are being made by the men and woman in the Armed Services? We have dedicated volunteers who have joined a branch of the U.S. military who were not even mentioned in this very important election.

The cost of those wars has driven up the deficit sharply and will continue to do so for at least the next four years, if not more. No mention of the brave work our people in uniform do to keep the terrorists on the run.

Ben Stein, the noted columnist, said last week, using his often-used line, that Attention Must Be Paid to these increasingly hard slogs of war creating a huge money pit from which we may not be able to climb out of. He was appalled that no one mentioned the soldiers, marines, and others fighting for their lives. The pols were too busy thinking of winning, and then becoming a thorn in the sides of the other party; maybe even their own party, openly stating that they would not compromise to get anything done for the country.

Consent of the Governed

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed..."

Declaration of Independence, United States of America, 1776

Although most Americans are familiar with the first sentence above, fewer know the second as well. The mid-term election brings this “consent” to the fore, in keeping with our right to vote and our right to “vote them out”. In most mid-term elections, the party in power loses congressional seats, but the change in House seats in this election was historic.

The “governed” or most of them anyway, have decided that the losers no longer had their “consent.” And as much as one might be dismayed with the results, it is this cornerstone of our democracy that makes us great.

We stood (and still stand) to lose this greatness if our representatives cannot grasp the intention of the voters. No party gained or lost a mandate here. It was clear that the people were angry with both parties and just wanted to see them get something done.

It does seem, however, that fiscal conservatism was the “flavor of the day”. With the Wall Street Bailouts and other TARP programs, the expanding deficit, and unemployment, the people have spoken that the current road is leading to disaster.

The discerning voter should, however, be careful what they wish for. For instance, “repealing” Obamacare carries with it all of the good parts too. Letting banks fail probably would not have been too good for us. But it was never explained well and worse yet, there were no rules set for the beneficiaries of the taxpayer largesse. The banks and investment house continue to chug on giving raises and bonuses that make even good, staunch, free market Republicans blanch. There must be some controls because humans tend to look for the loopholes, in laws and in life, and without some curbs, rank larceny is inevitable.

So let’s hope that the Republicans truly feel that they must remain humble, and that the Democrats will temper their spending and Nanny-State ideals just tad. If so, there may be hope for the future with America holding onto and improving our greatness. No one can expect to have 100% of their beliefs forced on the rest, but a little give and take might get everyone at least “half a loaf,” which is said to be better than none.