Good Bye to Our Loving Sweety

It is difficult to lose someone you love. In this case, it is losing a loving dog, Sweety. Sweety was a 13 year old mixed lab that we rescued as a puppy from the North Shore Animal League. It was love at first sight as my daughter and I approached the cage of a puppy who was staring at us while all of the other dogs milled around their business. My wife asked if we wanted to meet other dogs, but my daughter and I were adamant - this was the one!

Sweety was extremely sweet and caring for people and other dogs, yet she was extremely stubborn and wanted to do things her way. Despite being stubborn, Sweety was loyal. When she was about 1 years old, we were on a walk/run around the neighborhood, when I tripped and dislocated my shoulder. My hold on the leash went flying, but Sweety remained by my side as we returned home and I waited for the ambulance.

Sweety's love on our walks was to smell, to smell the bushes, the flowers, the grass, the trees, everything. When people were in the area, she sniffed the air to smell them as well. If Sweety wanted to smell something bad enough, she would dig in her paws, not in an overt disobedient way, but to essentially say, "I am not done yet."

Our favorite games were to play "find the treat" and "fetch for treat." Sweety loved her treats. When I whistled, Sweety would always come to my side.

Now, that she is gone, I feel a profound loss. Sweety was a loving companion and her own personality with the right balance of stubborn and sweet.

AMERICAN DEMOCRACY NEEDS YOU!

In the United States of America, we grow up in a nation where the concept of democracy is considered a given and is taken for granted, like a sunrise every morning and a sunset every evening. But, just like many things in the real world this is an illusion. Democracy is not a pre-existing system of governance that is some type of default setting like a ring tone on a new Iphone. Democracy is, in fact, an outlier in human history. Throughout the world and world history, power has not been freely given to leaders, but taken by brute force or inherited through nepotism. American Democracy is a commitment by people of various ethnicities, religions, and other identities to work for the common good of participating in a societal arrangement embodied in laws and institutions of our Republic.

Our system of government is obviously imperfect based on a long history of strife, crises, tragedies, and systemic failings. With all of its flaws, however, American Democracy has persevered because we have a social compact that we will choose our leaders in free and fair elections. While citizenship in the society has many requirements, the most fundamental is exercising the right to vote. In our system, the vote of the citizenry is where we derive our greatest power.

The country is currently polarized by tribalism and extreme partisanship. Rather than viewing our political adversaries as fellow citizens they are demonized as others who "hate our country" or "want to destroy our country." This is not true. I do not believe that any political party wants to destroy the country. But, I do believe that the pursuit of power has corrupted our view of American Democracy. It is not about winning or losing, it is about winning at all costs. While, this is true about both sides of the political spectrum, including both the Democratic and Republican parties, the Republican Party has taken this to an extreme degree. In 2020, Trump refused to concede losing the presidential race and has continued to sow the seeds of the unfounded "BIG LIE" that the election was stolen from him. Subsequently, this has become a movement in the Republican Party, a litmus test, that any candidate running as Republican must endorse the "BIG LIE" or being ostracized from the party. There are still many in the Republican Party who have not accepted the "BIG LIE" and continue to identify and run as candidates for public office. In 2022, however, there are hundreds of candidates running for office who have denied the 2020 election and elected officials, including, members of Congress who on January 6, 2021 voted not to certify the last election (such as Lee Zeldin, GOP candidate for NY Governor).

One may argue what is the big deal? Others have complained about elections before, others have not conceded elections, so what if our side does not accept that the other side won? By not accepting the legitimacy of the 2020 election, which was challenged legally and such legal challenges failed because they lacked evidence to support such challenges, American Democracy has been undermined and weakened. Worse, there was a broadside attack on American Democracy to keep Trump in the presidency even though he lost the 2020 election.

Now, American Democracy is at a cross-roads. It would be hyperbolic to suggest that American Democracy will be destroyed if election deniers are elected into office in 2022. However, the threat to American Democracy is real. In history, dictators and fascists, such as the National Socialists in Germany, gained power through elections, but those were the last free and fair elections. Not to compare these candidates to National Socialists, but there is no guarantee that once in power to supervise and certify elections that these elected officials will follow the will of the people's vote and not substitute it for their own judgment. Several States have passed laws that their legislatures can overturn elections. Yes, that's right. All of the votes can be cast aside, no matter the results for someone else to substitute the outcome of an election.

So what can you do about it? If you care about American Democracy, review the candidates on the ballot. Make a conscious choice as to whether or not you want an election denier to have the power to supervise and potentially decide future elections. If you make the choice to vote for these candidates be forewarned, however, that this may be the last meaningful vote that you will have a choice to cast. American Democracy Needs You!

September 11 - 19 Years Later

I remember the early morning of September 11, 2001. I woke up a little late that day as I headed off to work on the subway. When I arrived in midtown, a homeless man was shouting that planes had hit the World Trade Center. I was not sure if he was rambling or whether something actually happened. I passed by television screens in vestibules that showed smoke coming out of both the towers. My initial thoughts were that maybe these were small airplanes that had mistakenly crashed. I remembered that an airplane once crashed into the Empire State Building. As I got closer to my office, I learned that these were not small aircraft, but large commercial planes that crashed at different times. The thoughts that we were under attack started to grow. In my office, the internet connection was spotty, but more and more information was being provided by colleagues passing by. The news kept streaming in that one of the Towers had fallen, that the Pentagon was hit, then the second tower had fallen, another plane crashed in Pennsylvania and other planes were believed to be hijacked. It felt like it was time to leave the office, that we were at war, and who knows what would happen next. I walked from midtown to the 59th Street bridge. The smoke was billowing from the downtown area and people scrambled across the bridge. Many got on the back of flatbed trucks. I continued to walk and think for about an hour and a half until I reached my car parked in Forest Hills. The rest of the day was both solemn and surreal. There was uncertainty, anger, and grief, but a feeling that our country would overcome this and respond forcibly against those responsible. The ensuing days would bring a sense of shared unity, shared grief, and shared purpose that we, as Americans would overcome this.

19 years later and we are suffering through the worst pandemic in over one century, deep social tensions, and economic uncertainty. Almost 200,000 Americans have died, and the nation seems more polarized than since the days of the Civil War. Our nation, consisting of our people, truly needs physical, mental, and emotional healing.