What A Blast!

I remember when I was a little twelve year old kid and the family was gathered around the TV one Saturday afternoon watching a play being broadcast live. You need to realize that this was around 1960 and TV then for the most part was live and in black and white.

Anyway, the play was about a man who had begun to experience difficulty with his vision. He did what anyone would do, he went to an optician who examined him and then prescribed glasses. The man chose a pair of black rimmed glasses and upon placing them on his face took on a decidedly Jewish appearance. So much so, that his life imploded. His wife ultimately left him, he lost his job, and neighbors took to throwing rocks and trashcans through the windows of his house.

At that point, completely confused, I turned to my father and asked him what in the world was going on? He very patiently explained to me all about racism in general and anti-Semitism in particular and then asked me the question—“Well son, now that you understand what is going on, what do you think this man should do?”

Without any hesitation, I responded,” I think he should get a new pair of glasses.” I am certain that this was the first time I disappointed my father.

This is where I come from, a home that was decidedly left of center. A home that as I wrote about in a previous blog (A Trip Down Memory Lane), had a black father and a white/Jewish mother. From the outside it appeared that me and my brother and sisters were doomed to a life of left leaning, liberal ideology. It was not like that at all however. We had an open household and both my parents had the kind of personal and political courage that helped to make this country the wonderful beacon it is today and is part of the reason why millions around the world do their best to make this country their own.

It wasn’t always Kumbyah however and just like in any home there was disagreement. When I enlisted in the Army and ended up going to Vietnam, my father was once again disappointed but he never stopped loving me and I know for a fact, that he never stopped worrying about me when I was off, fighting a war that was at best questionable and at worst, criminal.

I have been writing this blog for about two months and I have had a great time. Even when those who disagree with me come at be with fangs bared I am grateful for the dialogue. This too is what makes this country great—the ability to have discourse and to come to resolution. More often than not, that resolution is driven by compromise, but resolution nonetheless. I have written on how I feel about healthcare reform, about global warming, about the financial sector, Afghanistan, Iraq and even wrote a special piece for Thanksgiving. I am no David Brooks or Paul Krugman, but I am finding my voice and it feels good.

The next two posts will be about my concern on how business is conducted in the US Congress—and the US Senate specifically. The rules surrounding the strategy of filibuster has an interesting history and as I do the reading and research, I am amazed at how much a part of our country’s history the dysfunction of filibuster and Senate rules in general truly are.

There will be two posts because I want to present the history of the filibuster first and then what I think the American people might be able to do about it—certainly the US Senate seems incapable of doing something about it themselves.

So agree, don’t agree ………..I am having a blast just getting it out on paper…errrrr….my computer.