I want America to have:

a State Department staffed by strong, well-trained professionals equipped with the knowledge, understanding and experience to play a strong hand on the world stage;

an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that possesses the tools that enable it to protect our water and air;

a Justice Department dedicated to protecting the life, rights and liberty of ALL Americans;

a Judiciary dedicated to safeguarding our precious rule of law;

a Civil Service selected by qualifications and protected from the vagaries of would-be tyrants;

Intelligence Agencies unfettered by political priorities;

Hey, it’s a start.

11/1/2020

Commandments from the Mediocre Manager

 Introduction: I wrote this in 2000 after a good friend was summarily fired for obeying the law instead of her supervisor. It seems even more valid 20 years later.

The Mediocre Manager’s Commandments

1.     I am thy Supreme Commander whom thou shalt esteem above all others. (Have no independent thoughts, exercise no responsibility and do not dare to demonstrate initiative before me.)

2.     Thou shalt not labor in vain. (I shall take full credit for any of thy accomplishments.)

3.     Thou shalt remember to keep holy thy Supreme Commander’s day. (Wholly uncluttered by management problems for which I can blame you later.)

4.     Thou shalt honor my decisions. (Thou shalt frequently kiss my buttocks.)

5.     Thou shalt not commit violence against me. (Suppress all evidence of your own intelligence and competency in the presence of any visiting dignitaries or representatives from home office. 

6.     Thou shalt not screw with thy Supreme Commander. (Take the blame for my mistakes or else.)

7.     Thou shalt not steal credit for thy subordinates’ accomplishments. (The credit belongs to me.)

8.     Thou shalt not bear false witness about thy subordinates. (Never defend them against my spite.)

9.     Thou shalt be not covet the accomplishments of others. (These are for my greater glory and so I claim them.)

10.  Thou shalt  not covet my superior judgment. (Keep your mouth shut. Your input is not relevant to my agenda.)

7/12/00

RIP John Lewis

I see ancient black and white photos of a serious young black man leading a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. His tread is firm; his resolve stalwart. His eyes reveal conviction “good trouble” awaits him. My heart aches in awe and sympathy for his bravery, his unwavering dedication to his holy cause. RIP John Lewis.

The Tonys - In Memoriam

As I watch the names of theatre greats who left us this year flash across the screen, I pay homage to friends, mentors and family members whose lives pay unsung homage to the arts. Their passion, drive and love might never tread the boards of Broadway; nevertheless it nourishes the essence of their communities, their intimates, their humble fans.

I remember my mother’s lifelong passion for theatre; my cousins who strove with mixed success to “make it” on Broadway or in Los Angeles; my daughters who shined in high school musicals to their parents’ delight.

The Arts. They lend color to our lives. I celebrate their partisans living and passed.

Signs of the Times

You judge by the times you live in. My mother and I once had a talk about how it was for her during World War II. Casualties touched every family and every family had members on the front. She confided she could not bear to watch movies about that time because they brought back too sharply her memories of Dad overseas and her trying to prepare a home for my older brother, herself and him for his return, while terrified he wouldn’t make it back. Too many of her friends had received notice their spouses were never coming home.

Many who did return went on reserve status for the extra money and then had to do it all over again in Korea.

I remember: the attacks on civil rights protesters in Alabama; the protests and sit-ins against Vietnam; The murder of Kent State students; The militarization of the Black Panthers; the assassinations (JFK, King, RFK, Malcom X); the bombings. It didn’t seem like this country could ever return to an even keel.

The millennials have their own set of challenges. They are an interesting generation. I hope they have the opportunity to  produce the truly great things of which they are capable.

Just a few thoughts.

61 Broad Street - IMO Nana, Muz and Joe

There are three rooms I rarely see,

Though in my mind they ever be.

There are three people in those rooms,

Who give my spirit sanctuary.

When I can, I visit them,

When I can’t, I miss them.

Three people in three rooms.

The rooms are not elaborate,

No gilt bedecks the walls.

The staircase to them creaks a bit,

“Be careful, or you’ll fall.”

The people there are loving.

They claim me as their own.

Suffer all my failings,

Give my heart a home.

If it has been months or a year,

Since I was there before,

No awkwardness disturbs the air,

When I walk in the door.

Walls of solitude surround us,

And sometimes must be broken.

Here, they seem to vanish,

As if they’d never been.

I love them very dearly,

Would like to let them know,

The strength that has been given to me,

By Nana, Muz and Joe!

Mary Ann Loewenstein

1977

Governing by Executive Order is a Bad Idea

Donald Trump's presidency has sharply highlighted the treacherous  instability resulting from attempting to legislate by Executive Order. There were good reasons for designating Congress to write the laws and the Executive to enforce them.

Social order relies on stability. Justice cannot exist without stable, thoughtfully legislated, codified law, applied equally to all members of a society. Just note how difficult ending Obamacare is compared to DACA. The first was legislated. DACA was created by Executive Order.

Under a system that changes its executive at least every eight years, Executive Orders can quickly become problematic. Close to a million young people trusted that Obama's DACA gave them a secure path to their future. Every single one of them is about to learn whether that trust was misplaced. If it was, the price will be frighteningly steep for those individuals; it will be catastrophically destructive - in economic, social, political and global terms - to the United States.