THEM GOOD OL' DAYS

When I was a kid, the Great Revolution in China killed millions.
When my dad was a kid, Hitler killed millions and so did Stalin.
When his dad was a kid the Spanish flu killed millions.
My son is a kid and even though the Iraq War has gone on for longer than any other war in US history, about 1,000 American's have died and 100,000 Iraqis have as well.


When I was a kid, we were told that margarine was good and butter was bad.
When my dad was a kid, smoking was recommended by doctors.
When his dad was a kid, doctors didn't routinely wash their hands between surgeries.
My son is a kid, and he has more access to healthy food, a healthy lifestyle and medical care that would have been unimaginable to all of his forebears. 


When I was a kid, none of us drove with seatbelts.
When my dad was a kid, asbestos rained down from almost every industrial ceiling.
When his dad was a kid, an industrial accident killed 10 to 100 times more people than it ever could today.
My son is a kid and the roads are infinitely safer, as are the buildings and workplaces.


When I was a kid, the world was in turmoil, hot and cold wars raged, a US president was in unprecedented scandal, millions were dying in Africa and Cambodia and the threat of nuclear annihilation was omnipresent.
When my dad was a kid, the world shook from a World War that claimed millions upon millions of lives, nearly wiped out the Jewish people and saw mankind develop a weapon of unspeakable hardship. And millions were dying in Africa and China and other places.
When his dad was a kid, the first World War nearly destroyed western Europe a flu killed more people than currently live in in the entire Pacific Northwest and most people on the planet lived a kind of slave-like existence.
My son is a kid and he lives in a world of unparalleled peace, unparalleled health, unparalleled freedom and unparalleled global opportunity.




Things are most assuredly getting better.  We don't see it, we don't feel it. But it is there. From 1966, to now, my current lifespan, we have seen the end of the cold war, a black president, a massive shift from rural poor to urban wealthy and more. From 1941 to now, my dad's lifespan, we ended Jim Crow, we almost cured cancer, we ended global fascism  and more.


From 1900, my grandfathers birth, to now we have reduced violence, pestilence, disease, hunger and oppression to stunning affect.


Gregg Easterbrook's new book "It's Better than it Looks: Reasons for Hope in the Age of Fear" shows this in great detail.  We live longer, freer, healthier and with more choice, more diversity and more care and understanding then ever before.

KIDS THESE DAYS...

But then again...




There was a group in all this that I didn't count on.  Teenagers. Today's teenagers in 2018.


The Florida shooting unleashed pissed off, media savvy, entitled to the spotlight teenagers and the rest of us adults couldn't handle it.




If you are over 35 and white - the big decisions may be beyond us. We aren't going to stop global warming, we aren't going to stop gun violence, we aren't going to stop sexual harassment.




But these kids might.  and not just the universal "kids."  These kids.


When we were kids we couldn't. We were too scared and too immersed in the way things were.




Today's kids are smarter, bolder, harder to embarrass, out-of-the-box starter kits for talking with the press and politicians. Their entire worldview is based on their belief that they are special and that no adult can contain them.  And damn it, they are right.




And they actually aren't jerks about it.  They grew up believing that they were equal to adults and therefore could talk to adults as adults.  That fact removes the filter that I and we were born with. The filter that told us to comply. And when I say that, I don't mean that we didn't protest and march and roll our eyes at "the man." of course we did.  that is what all kids are supposed to do.




But these kids today...they were born ready to actually talk to adults. To have a conversation - from the moment they could actually speak.  And they have and they are. They aren't protesting as much as they are forcing their way into the  conversation. We didn't. We just yelled.  These kids speak and converse.




And the establishment can't handle it and the establishment might actually cave to them. Because the establishment is terrified of them. There are too many of them and they represent an incomprehensible market of buyers and consumers. Old crusty politicians are afraid of them, because they - unlike us - will vote them out. Retailers who sell guns are terrified of them because they know that 12 of them can get on social media and put a billion dollar sporting goods chain out of business. 




They don't stop, because they don't have to stop.  When we got mad as teenagers, we held a protest, staged a sit-in and then a day or a week later we would have to get back to our lives - to our school or homework or whatever. 


These kids?  They can protest 24-7 and still do all their assignments, keep up with their friends and be entertained all at the same time.




They never go away.




The NRA relies on laziness. On the latest school shooting to last about 1.5 news cycles and then fizzle because we adults have work and kids and dinner etc. 


But that won't work this time. These kids can keep up their grades AND keep up the pressure. 


Relentlessly.

WHY WE LET IT GO ON

Another school shooting.  Another dozen and more kids killed. And it won't matter.

We won't do anything to change our gun culture. We won't do anything to reduce it.

And I finally know why.

It helped to finally crystallize in my mind the insanity of gun violence by looking at the president and evangelicals. Evangelicals love Trump, despite the fact that he has the morality of a wolverine. It just came out that all the rumors are true and that he had an affair with a porn actress while his wife was pregnant with his youngest son. And they love him.

Yes, they love him because he gives them clear support to rail against abortion and to discriminate against gays.  But it's more than that.  They support him because to not support him is to admit that they were wrong.  And they know they are wrong.  They know he is a lecherous, troglodyte who probably has already had sex with his daughter Ivanka. They already know that they were so wrong about supporting him and his character.  They know.

There is nothing more anathema to the American psyche than admitting we were wrong.

And that is the same with legislators and supporters of the NRA and gun rights.  They know they are wrong.  They know they are complicit in all this, but they've gone way beyond the tipping point.

For today, they would have to stand before TV cameras and admit they were wrong.  And they can't do that. They would rather let bullets rip through the bodies of 15-year-old kids than admit they were wrong. 

JUST SO I'M ON THE RECORD...

There is only one outcome of the craziness that we are in.

Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States will resign within six months.

There is no other option. He can't withstand the shots to his presidency, his legacy, his reputation and his family.

He knows he has become a laughing stock and a buffoon and one day very soon, he will look up from his burger and fries and say to no one - "enough."

He will say that the "deep state" was insurmountable and that he decided to declare victory and leave.

And then he will set up his media empire (that will fail within one year) and wait to die.

Twas the Night Before (Trump’s) Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and throughout the White House,

Incriminating emails with gasoline to douse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

With hopes that Russia-gate would not soon ensnare;

The trump kids were nestled all snug in their beds,

With visions of subpoenas dropped by the feds;

And Melania in her kerchief and Donald in his cap,

Thinking Obama must surely the phone lines did tap;

When out on the south lawn arose such a clatter,

 “Is it a CNN truck and that ol rascal Jake Tapper?”

Away to the window Trump flew like a flash,

Hoping that Don Junior deleted the incriminating web cache;

When what to his wondering eye should appear,

Mueller’s legal team preparing a right robust voir dire;

With an approaching young lawyer, so lively and quick,

Don wondered if he was history’s next Tricky Dick;

“Now, Manafort, now Spicey, now Comey now Flynn,

Who’s lawyered up and ready to stick the knife in?”

The Donald he paces by the 60 inch flat screen,

His fingers dripping from fast food cuisine;

“I must attack these betrayers with the snarkiest tweet,

To give Fox News a gem to repeat;

This stress is giving me a harsh panic attack,

God why did Sessions talk with Sergey Kisliak!

I feel as though the wolves are closing in,

Better get on the hotline and call my old pal Putin;

Toward Moscow I’ll direct air force one to take flight,

Dasvidaniya to all, and to all a good night!”

The State of the NFL: A Partial Eulogy

Every great and popular TV show hits a crest: a point in its lifecycle where it is at the very apex of its power and appeal. The ratings are high, the critical acclaim is voluminous and it achieves that amazing status where “everyone” is talking about it.

However, usually within one or two seasons and without most fans even consciously observing it, the fall begins. It’s still a major destination – either in real-time or through the DVR – and it still evokes joy in the watching….but. But there just seems to be something subtly missing. And when that “it” show finally ends, most true and observant fans can look back and point out the season where the decline began. “Lost” had it, “Seinfeld” had it, “Breaking Bad” had it, and “The Sopranos” had it. They all had it.

2017 seems like the year and the season where the NFL is truly and irrevocably on the decline. And the inevitability of this decline has nothing to do with quality of play, owners or players. It has everything to do with fans and their wandering attention.

To me, there are five reasons why 2017 is a watershed year for the NFL and the mark where the great and might Shield started the fall toward irrelevancy.

1.       CTE

The worry about concussions and CTE hangs over the NFL like a nation-sized black cloud. And that cloud causes three separate national mindsets that have the unique ability to further damage pro football’s brand and longevity.

First, head trauma makes watching football feel dirty. I am a life-long fan and former high school coach, and even I feel like a bad person for viewing the spectacle of head-on-head collisions, stumbling players and the new “medical tent.” I now begin to wonder if the Romans felt this way two thousand years ago during the coliseum era.  Football has always been dangerous, but with what we know about head trauma it now seems more Russian roulette than athletic endeavor.

The second issue CTE creates is the “boxing-ification” and “enlistment-ification” of the sport. White middle class families simply no longer let their sons box, and by-and-large don’t let their sons enlist in the army. We understand the inherent long-term risks of both (concussion for boxing, death for the army) and we have the ability to simple say no, not my son. With CTE, a lot of us white middle class families are now saying no to football for our sons and that is going to sap a lot of the much needed fodder for elite athletes to compete against. I know my son would never become an NFL caliber player if I allowed his participation, but his participation, and the participation of thousands of other similar lads, is critical toward furthering football and the ultimate level of the sport – the NFL. Fewer players’ means the lifeblood is starting to dry up.

T

he other issue CTE is helping to destroy, if not severely warp, is the concept of hero worship. The NFL has always relied on fans loving the players –buying their jerseys and posters, seeking their autographs and shelling out big bucks to watch them play. The Brady’s and the Rogers, and the Watt’s and the Ryan’s drive the sport. But what happens if we start to truly care for their long-term health? What if we are afraid that our gridiron hero of today becomes the drooling idiot or suicide victim of tomorrow? Might we start to do what we often do when confronted with tragedy beyond our control – to look away and pretend it doesn’t exist? And isn’t it easier to pretend the problem doesn’t exist by turning the channel and watching “American Ninja Warrior,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” or NBA basketball instead?

Race

Like everything else in America, race and racial tension is inescapable in the NFL. I’m not going to add my two cents on the Collin Kapernick issue, other than to say that race is absolutely and inarguably part of the issue. But I think the Kapernick situation is really just a symptom of a larger race issue for the NFL. It’s starting to feel like fans have to choose sides regarding their NFL support: are you a god-fearing, flag waving, NASCAR-supporting Houston Texan Fan, or are you a latte-sipping, NPR-listening, touchy-feely Seattle Seahawks fan? Baseball has precipitously fallen from the national consciousness in the last few decades, and one possible reasons for that is its hard right shift over the years. It seems strange that baseball – the first sport to integrate – has now become mostly the prevue of the “Duck Dynasty” and truck nuts set. And a big part of that shift is that black players are not nearly as fundamental to baseball anymore. That has led to baseball to become a niche pastime for more rural, suburban and older white fans and ignored by the huge percentage of urban, minority and young fans. Could the racial divide do that to football as well?

In the era of Trump, Goodell seems redundant

Roger Goodell is almost universally hated. Most people believe he is a corrupt, despotic ruler who doesn’t know what he’s doing and doesn’t care who he alienates. And in most eras that wouldn’t be such a big deal. I’m sure Pete Rozelle had his emperor-like tendencies and I’m not sure Paul Tagliabue was any kind of genius. But Goodell, in 2017 is living in the Trump era. If you are a democrat like me you think Trump is impossibly corrupt, incompetent and mean and you absolutely do not want the commissioner of your favorite sport to be just like the much-hated president. If you are a republican, you want football to be a distraction from the creeping sense of buyer’s remorse you feel with Trump and Goodell is just too similar. With Goodell apparently attached to the NFL for the foreseeable future, the uncomfortable feeling from CTE is only made worse by the truly icky feeling of knowing this commissioner is in charge of it all.

Better enjoyment for free

Attending a football game is a major commitment with a diminishing payoff. It’s expensive, time consuming and forces oneself to endure bad sightlines, drunk fans and disgusting public restrooms. For what? To be “at” the game. Who cares? Watching any football game at home in the comfort of one’s favorite chair in front of a 60 inch plasma, with unfettered access to a clean bathroom and free snacks is sports fan nirvana. And, watching the game at home allows any super fan to exploit all the riches of watching a televised game without having to pay a single red cent into a greedy owner’s hands – save for your monthly cable or satellite bill. If, in the next decade, the vast majority of season ticket holders stop going to games, the NFL will be in for a world of trouble. No more publically financed stadiums, no more personal seat licenses, and no more $15.00 beers. Can the NFL survive on TV revenue only? We might find out sooner rather than later.

Which leads to…There’s so much more to watch on TV than ever before – especially during the dark winter months of the football season.

Network executives of the other channels used to avoid NBC’s Sunday Night Football and ESPN’s Monday Night Football like the plague.  Not so much anymore. I stop watching most Monday night games at 8 p.m. because that’s when American Ninja Warrior starts. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a quasi-sporting event that was created exclusively for TV and is becoming hugely popular. NBC has it run right when MNF starts the 4^th quarter. Such scheduling was unthinkable just a few years ago. On Sunday Night, cable networks are trotting out great quality TV that is gobbling up eyeballs and fans at record numbers.  Watching an entire game of NFL football is no longer as simple as lazily slumping down on one’s couch. It takes an active mind and a commitment to stay focused on three hours of one game. There is a great comedy, a compelling drama or a riveting action thrilling just a channel away. You tell me, what would you rather watch? - the Colts vs. the Brownsn or a TV show that everyone discusses at work the next day. “Did you see that catch last night?” has been replaced with, “man! The plot twists on Game of Thrones have me reeling!!!” as watercooler talk these days.

The NFL ran – and still runs – supreme in the American Sports ecosystem. But the cracks and the flaws and the competition are like wolves at the door. Not today, not tomorrow, but in the not-too-distance future, the NFL will become like baseball, an interesting and sometime compelling also-ran. 

Worse yet, it may end up become boxing.

True Bipartisan Disgust

I get it. It’s stunningly easy as a college-educated, life-long democrat to wallow in schadenfreude over President Donald Trump and the current state of his administration. The ineptitude, the lack of any substantive legislative progress, the Russia investigation, the revolving door of staffers, the Russia investigation, the historic unpopularity, the Russia investigation, the incompetence of his family members, the Russia investigation.

It’s almost too much to take. As much as most of the country hates him and wants his failure to be truly unprecedented, we are actually looking forward to a break where at least a week goes by without another never-before-seen embarrassment. 

I also get it. If you voted for Trump, you are currently trying to double-down on your support, lest you admit your vote on November 8, was one of the biggest mistakes of your life. Look, if the dems had run a werewolf and I voted for him/her/it I too would feel a deep sense of regret and a profound sense of needing a shower.

But forget all the big news items that have come out about the president. Forget about Russia, forget about healthcare, forget about Spicer/Flynn/Scaramucci et al.  Forget about leaving the Paris Climate Accord, forget about the lack of progress toward the boarder wall.

Instead, let’s just focus on two statements the president made this week. Just two. There have been many, but let’s just concentrate on the following:

He told reporters that the president of Mexico called him recently to praise his action on board security.

He told the Wall Street Journal that the head of the Boy Scouts called him to praise his recent speech before that organization.

Just those two. Nothing else. These two pronouncements tell anyone everything they would ever need to know about the most unqualified president and perhaps most unqualified world leader in history.

Here are the facts.

1.       He said both of these things to reporters – on the record.

2.       They were not true. Representatives from both the president of Mexico and the Boy Scouts denied that any such calls were made to the president.

3.       The alleged statements were 100 percent verifiable. Any reporter could have called the pertinent organizations (as they did) and received confirmation or denial.

4.       The president either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that anything he says or does can be verified.

5.       The vast majority of sentient people in the US and around the world, when faced with a choice of whom to believe – the president, or any other party – will choose any other party.

6.       In just six months, we have reached such a low point that it is now accepted as unassailable fact that the President of the United States possesses the integrity and intellect of an infomercial salesman.

I know it is a fool’s errand to make the pronouncement (when faced with Trump’s behavior) that Republicans would lose their minds if Clinton had been elected and acted the same way. For many R’s, Clinton is the bête noire of politics that somehow can never be eclipsed.

So let’s just take the last five Republican presidents. Can anyone imagine presidents Bush, Bush Sr., Reagan, Ford or Nixon acting this way? As bad as George W. Bush was on so many fronts, can anyone really imagine him making up an easily verifiable call from say, the Mayor of New Orleans praising his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina? Can anyone imagine Reagan – in the early onset of dementia, even – making up a call from the director of SF General Hospital praising his efforts to combat HIV? Can anyone imagine Nixon making up a call from a group of anti-war activists supporting his escalation in Vietnam?

No. You can’t.  I can’t either.

It is a fact. Donald Trump is a 70-year-old man, but also a 12-year-old boy. For that is what happened this week. A 12-year-old boy, needing affirmation and approval, made up out of whole cloth a couple of stories to try and make himself appear better than he really was.

That, at the end of the day, is the worst thing about Trump. He wields incredible power, with none of the necessary intelligence, integrity and simple maturity to handle it.