I thought I was watching Saturday Night Live. Someone impersonating the famous Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz, was making the hilarious argument before the U.S. Senate that the President of the United States could do literally anything he wanted as long as the president thought it was in the “public interest of the country.” Trump believes that it is in the “public interest of the country” for him to be reelected. Ergo, he can do anything he wants related to his reelection. No exceptions.

Pretty funny.

But wait! This was not SNL. This was really happening.

Pretty scary.

Of course, the Republicans took the bait and rejoiced that one of the most famous lawyers in the country–a revered Harvard law professor, no less– was taking their side that Trump should not be convicted and thrown out of office for withholding military aid to a foreign ally pending an investigation of Hunter and Joe Biden. It appears that McConnell has the votes to prevent anyone from testifying and that the Senate trial should be over by the end of the week. While there never was a question as to the verdict by the Senate, the closing legal arguments by the Trump legal team raised more than a few eyebrows.

So not so fast Republicans. You could, one day, rue the day….

But in the meantime, what do you think the Trump reelection machine will be doing? Certainly, calls to Russia and China are on the to-do list, perhaps to other adversaries as well. Why stop with social media interference? Why not go whole hog? Hey, there are lots of opportunities for tampering with the voting machines and repressing voter turnout; and if that is what it takes to achieve what Trump believes is in the “public interest of the country,” there is not anything that anyone can do to stop him. According to the Republican legal team, he can’t be impeached, and since no sitting president can be tried for a crime while he or she is in office, Trump is covered. Green light, baby, whatever it takes. “All for the public interest of the country.”

It does not take a constitutional scholar to realize where this could take us. What if Trump were to determine that it was in the “public interest” for him to remain in office indefinitely, for martial law to be imposed, for the news media to be shut down? What if he actually were to shoot and kill someone on Fifth Avenue?

The United States of America is not a totalitarian country. Not yet. We still have a free press. So far. Political adversaries are not locked up. Not now. And we used to be able to say that our voting process assured the will of the people, that America was the shining light of democracy.  We know now that this is not the case because of all the money that corrupts elections, gerrymandering, and interference by foreign adversaries. Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 by three million votes and yet won in the Electoral College. Many think that the popular vote margin will be even greater in 2020. Yet we may be stuck with him for another four years.

Make no mistake: Our democracy is at risk. We have set the record for the longest lasting democracy on the planet Earth. But it is not guaranteed. I recall the words in a James Taylor song, “nothing lasts forever.” Watch out, America. We are getting close to the line.

Editor, Faux News

Josephhowellphotography.com/blog/

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Our faithful reporter, disguised as an electrical repairman, was able to secretly record this conversation, which occurred today in the cloak room behind the Senate chamber.

McConnell: Ok here we are, let’s get down to business.

Schiff: Are you ready to deal?

McConnell: You get Bolton; we want Hunter Biden.

Schiff: Hunter Biden has been totally exonerated by everyone who has looked into it. He is irrelevant to the impeachment.

McConnell: No Hunter, no Bolton.

Schiff: Ok, you get Hunter. We want Lev Parnas.

McConnell:  Lev? The guy is a thug. You can’t be serious. All he will do is trash the president. He is a sleaze bag.

Schiff: No Lev, no deal.

McConnell: Ok, you get Lev. We want Joe.

Schiff: You have got to be kidding! Joe is running for president and has nothing to do with the impeachment of Trump.

McConnell: Oh yeah? When we get through with him he will not be able to be elected dog catcher. We will finish him off. But that is your problem, not ours. You want Bolton, you pay a price.

Schiff: Ok, Joe testifies. We want Stormy.

McConnell: Stormy Daniels? What does she have to do with this? She is a slut, and you know it. No one will believe her.  You are wasting your time.

Schiff: No Stormy. No Joe.

McConnell: Okay, you get Stormy. We want Hillary. We will nail that bitch on her emails.  Just you wait.

Schiff: The emails? Are you serious? That was in 2016 and was a nothing burger then. Can’t you put that behind you?

McConnell:  You want Stormy? We want Hillary. Your choice.

Schiff: Ok, you get Hillary. We want Putin.

McConnell: Surely you jest. Do you think for a minute that he will come here? You have totally lost your mind.

Schiff: No Putin, no deal.

McConnell: You can try, but you know he will have to get Trump’s approval first and that won’t happen.  But if you get to try,  you have got to deliver the whistle blower. No whistle blower, no Putin and no deal.

Schiff:  Ok, you get the whistle blower. Forget Putin. We will take Rudy instead, plus we want Mulvaney.

McConnell: Giuliani and Mulvaney? Upping the ante are you?

McConnell: You get them, but we get Obama.

Schiff: Obama is not even president.

McConnell: But he was, and what he did was far worse than anything Trump ever even thought about doing. We will impeach the sunofabitch.

Schiff: You can’t impeach someone who is no longer president.

McConnell:  We have lawyers who say you can. We’ll destroy his reputation.

Schiff: Well….

MsConnell: Deal?

Schiff: Okay, deal.

McConnell: Let the fun begin!

The announcement is expected to be made at noon on January 29 in the Rotunda.

 

 

 

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Trump tweeted today numerous times that he cannot recall knowing anyone by the name of John Bolton. “Just more fake news from the traitorous Democrats and the Fake News Media who are trying to overturn the will of the voters. They should all be locked up.” Later in the morning when boarding the presidential helicopter behind the White House, he shouted back at reporters,” I may have met him once or twice, but I meet a lot of people and I have photos made with a lot of people. Everyone wants me in their photos. So, yeah, I could have met him once or twice, but he is a nobody.”

When one reporter from NPR shouted, “For God’s sake, Mr. President, he was your National Security Advisor,” Trump screamed back, “I want you locked up for insubordination and treason.”

Later in the day when a spokesperson confirmed that while John Bolton had “in theory” been the National Security Advisor for the president, in reality Trump did not consult with him nor was he familiar with him. The spokesperson said that the president does not rely on any advisors or consultants and makes all the decisions himself based on the facts he has and “gut feel.” When asked by a reporter where the facts the president uses come from, the spokesperson said mainly Fox News and a handful of other reliable news sources like Breitbart.

Toward the end of the day, the White House announced that after reading a copy of the draft of Bolton’s unpublished book, White House lawyers determined that the entire work is classified and that it will be illegal to share any of the information in the book with anyone. The White House will vigorously pursue any violators of this ruling using the “full extent of the law.”

While Democrats expressed outrage, most Republican senators praised the ruling by the White House and stood behind Trump’s assertion that the president did not know Bolton. Many said that even though they were unaware of anyone by that name working in the White House,  any document produced by anyone named John Bolton should be classified. For this reason, they are standing by their position that there is absolutely no need for witnesses in the Impeachment Trial in the U.S. Senate and that the trial should be terminated immediately as a “waste of time, witch hunt, and attempted coup by the Democrats to overturn the results of the 2016 election.” The four senators considered on the fence regarding the need for witnesses in the Senate trial all said they were trying to confirm that someone by the name of John Bolton had actually worked in the White House and would make up their minds regarding witnesses “shortly.”

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Steven Grieves is a fictional journalist and intellectual whose best selling book, “The End of the World As We Know It,” is a number one best seller.

Faux News: Thank you, Professor Grieves, for agreeing to the interview and congratulations on the new book.

Grieves: No problem.

FN: So my first question is what do you think of the Senate trial now that it has finished its second day.

G: You mean “The Big Show”?

FN: Yes, I guess some are calling it that.

G: Well, that is exactly what it is. All minds are made up on both sides except for maybe a handful of Republicans, but certainly not enough to reach a guilty verdict.

FN: The only question today is whether there are four Republican votes needed to allow witnesses. Besides, Trump could be voted out in 2020.  Maybe it really does not make that much difference anyway what the verdict is.

G: Yes, but I believe voting Trump out in 2020 is problematical. The Democratic candidate will likely win the popular vote, probably by a wide margin, but the Electoral College is another matter. Plus in the words of Trump, the 2020 election will be rigged, but not in the way he implied in 2016. Russia—and a host of other countries as well—now have the technology to interfere and influence the outcome of U.S. elections. Russia helped elect Trump due to its interference in the 2016 elections. He knows that even though he denies it, and he knows that they are about to do it again, but this time in spades. That is why he is so buddy-buddy with Putin. That is why he got involved in the Ukraine incident, which became the trigger for the impeachment. Besides wanting to cripple Biden, he wanted to distract attention from the Russian interference and put the blame on Ukraine for trying to help Hillary.

FN: I understand the role of social media and how that made a difference in the 2016 election, but do you think it is that significant?

G: Yes and another real threat, I believe, is the ability to change the votes after they are cast. Electronic voting machines are very vulnerable to tampering, Do not for a moment think that the Russians aren’t going to try it again in 2020. They only have to target key voting districts in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio. They tried tampering before with mixed results. There is evidence that this time they will have more success.

FN: I thought we had fixed the voting booth problem.

G: It depends on the state and the voting precinct. In a lot of precincts the vulnerability issues have not been fixed. Some of those precincts are in critical states. You better believe the Russians know all that and are prepared to exploit it.

FN: Are you saying it is a done deal? That it does not make any difference whom the Democrats nominate, that it is in the bag for Trump?

G: Put it this way—I am very skeptical that the Democrats have a chance due to the bias in the Electoral College and to the use of technology and outside interference.  Trump’s hard-core base will be there for him and will vote for him no matter what. So he is starting with 40% before spending a penny.

FN: How does this relate to your dystopian idea of the end of the world as we know it?

G: Putting aside nukes and the possibility for an impetuous president like Trump pushing the nuclear button, the answer is climate change. Global warming. We know that we have limited time to deal with it. If drastic steps are not taken now, the planet will reach a tipping point that will set it on an irreparable course. When the Greenland ice caps melt, that means a 20-30 foot rise in oceans, and the relocation of hundreds of millions of people. Under Trump the U.S. will fight international climate change efforts rather than lead them. Greta is right. Every minute counts, and a minute lost now will not be made up later. We are on a trajectory to doomsday. That is why the 2020 election is pivotal.

The only hope we have to avert catastrophic outcomes is a massive mobilization effort even greater than all the combined efforts that went into fighting World War II. We should be fighting for our survival. Yet while we are  doing important things in wind, solar and tree preservation, electric cars and carbon reduction,  compared to what we should be doing, it is a drop in the bucket. I am sad to say that battling climate change does not even rank that high with many of the Democratic candidates, but the Republicans are climate change deniers. The fires in Australia are a harbinger. What comes next will be much worse.

FN: If for so many people the idea of another four years of Trump is a nightmare, why do you think  there are few, if any, Republicans in either the House or the Senate who will vote for impeachment or even stand up to Trump? Why do they all stand behind him regardless of what he does?

G: The short answer is fear and job security. But first let’s take a look at what is going on. There  are three groups of Republican elected officials in Congress. The first group denies that the Ukrainian drug deal even happened and that it is Trump’s word versus all the sworn witnesses. They believe Trump. The second group says that while there is not enough first hand witness accounts to make a decision, there is no need for any additional information or first hand witnesses, all of whom were prevented by Trump from testifying. In other words they say the House did not do its job and is not going to be exonerated by a skeptical Senate. The third group acknowledges that while some untoward actions may have happened, they do not come close to meeting the high bar for impeachment. Of course any objective observer would conclude that this is nonsense. What is really going on is that they believe that placating Trump’s hard-core base is the key to their reelection. To deviate from Trump worship would risk being “primarried out” by a farther right wing candidate. To all of this I say that the Republican Party has lost its moral compass and its soul. They will pay for this eventually—especially as the “Greta generation” matures to a voting age. But the question is that by then will it be too late.

FN:  Thank you, professor. Out time is up. We will see what happens, but I have to say that I am not as pessimistic as you are. We both can agree on one thing: 2020 will be an interesting year.

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Major internet providers tomorrow are expected to  announce a new policy that is intended to put an end to all email and online scams and Russian interference in U.S. elections. Starting on February 1, 2020 all passwords used on the internet must meet the following requirements:

• The password must contain at least 20 characters but not more than 100.
• One discreet password per account is allowed with no duplicates.
• The password must contain at least two capital letters, eight small case letters, seven numbers, and three symbols.
• No password will be allowed which contains any of the letters or numbers or symbols used in any previous password used by the user. If no such options exist, the user must apply for a waiver and pay a fine of $37.22
• Whenever the number “9” appears, it must be followed by two additional numbers which added together equals the day of the month that the user was born. In the case of a single digit day, the preceding number should be the letter “O,” not a zero.
• It should not be possible for any of the letters used to form an actual word in any language.
• If the user’s middle name begins with a vowel, the numbers must add up to an even number. If it begins with a consonant, they must add up to an odd number.
• All passwords must be changed monthly.

The consortium of email and internet providers emphasized that there will be no exceptions to this policy except as noted above. Kept under top secret, lock and key for months, the new policies will be announced formally at a news conference tomorrow. Some digital experts have stated they expect pushback from internet users but generally agree that these new policies when implemented will reduce internet abuse.

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We visited our daughter’s family over the Christmas holidays in Portland ME where we were joined by our son’s family and the families of our niece and nephew along with a Pit Bull, a Golden Doodle, a neighbor’s Cairn Terrier, a large snake which fortunately slept all the time, and the coup de grace, a tiny, orange tabby kitten only a few weeks old. The arrival of Ringo, the kitty, would not have been such a big deal except that the very idea of the arrival of a tiny, strange animal, which could possibly be a cat, drove Betsy, the Pit Bull, and Gimli, the Golden Doodle, crazy; and there were several times when one or both of the two dogs came perilously close to snapping off the poor kitten’s head.

The week in Portland, however, gave me sufficient exposure to the coastal Maine culture so that I now consider myself an expert regarding this unique brand of Yankee.

Let me set the record straight. What you hear about Maine is not necessarily accurate.  Here is the truth about the coastal Maine Yankee: all the people do not wear LL Bean lumberjack shirts, LL Bean boots, LL Bean down jackets, LL Bean hats, and LL Bean hiking boots all the time. Just most of the time. Nor is everyone thin and disgustingly fit though most certainly look like they are. And it is not true that all men over 30 have bushy beards and hair down to their shoulders, but a lot sure do. It is also not true that you can’t go outside without seeing someone walking a dog, often two dogs, but most of the time you can. Nor is it true that you can visit any of the several dog friendly beeches without counting at least a hundred four-legged creatures, the vast majority Golden Retrievers and Black Labs, bounding and frolicking all over the place. But you can sure count a lot of them.

It is not true that all these Yankees drive all-wheel-drive SUVs all the time with kayaks and skis on top. There are not that many skis on the top during the summer. It is also not true that there are no people of color though you have to look hard to disprove that, and with recent immigration of Africans, that is changing.

 It is not true that the place is drop-dead beautiful with rocky beeches, majestic islands surrounding the town along with ancient lighthouses and sparkling blue waters everywhere with lobster boats heading home after a long day on the water with scores of gulls following behind and ferries scurrying people from the islands to the town and back. But that description comes pretty close. It is also probably not true that Portland has some of the best restaurants around and the most for any city its size, but it could be true. The restaurants we went to were all pretty good, one exceptional. All these Yankees do not own wood stoves or spend most of their waking hours chopping wood when they are off work. Just some do including Peter, my son-in-law.

So be careful when you hear people talking about how great Portland is; and if anyone tells you it is cheap and affordable, be doubly careful. When Embry and I departed from the airport we had an hour to kill before boarding our plane back to DC. At the airport diner we ordered two small bowls of lobster soup and one small bowl of coleslaw along with two beers. It took over 45 minutes for the order to arrive; and when it did, we had to gulp it down and then run to get to the gate on time.  Total tab excluding tip: $75.17. We made the mistake of agreeing to have lobster in the soup. We were told by the waitress that it actually was not soup but “bisque,” and if you  wanted lobster in it, you had to pay more. We don’t drink “bisque” where I come from. We drink soup. I wondered what a cup of clam chowder would taste like without clams or a crab soup without crabs. I will be more careful next time.

So now you know.  Portland is not necessarily all it is cut out to be, but for a misplaced Southerner living in DC most of my life, I will have to admit I understand why my daughter and son-in-law, who used to live only a few miles from us, headed north with their teenage kids in tow to get out of Dodge. They chose a pretty nice spot.

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The turn of a year is always a good time for reflection. Here is my shot:

First, I would like to say thanks to 2019 for what on a personal level was a very good year for me and Embry. Embry and I did a lot of travel, which if you have been following the blog, you know all about. We continue to be in good health for people our age and are still squeezing drops out of the lemon. Theoretically retired from the Urban Institute–Embry still goes in to work occasionally– she has reinvented herself as an international consultant, specializing in evaluating US AID programs in developing nations. Mali was her first engagement in this new line of work, and she spent a week there in 2019 training villagers on how to do focus groups. No telling what will be next.

My volunteer work in 2019 on several nonprofit housing boards was especially rewarding, and I feel valued and appreciated.  Our two children and four grandchildren are doing fine. I value and cherish my relationships with close friends. We are enjoying apartment living in DC and are secure financially. I am still racing our sailboat, Second Wind, along with a great crew, and we even won a trophy in one of the series. And Embry and I were also able to get in some long cruises on the Chesapeake Bay with friends. At my Davidson 55^th reunion in the spring I received a “Distinguished Alumni Award,” for which I am especially grateful and—I will admit it—proud.  Life was good for us in 2019.  I feel blessed.

I also understand that for others this was not the case. My best friend lost his wife, and we lost several other friends as well. Funerals are a lot more frequent nowadays than weddings. At our age this is what you expect. Other friends are struggling with health issues, some with memory issues. Anyone my age (soon to be 78) understands that we are running our last lap. That is the way life is on the planet Earth for us homo sapiens, in fact for all life.

But while I can say that for me 2019 life was a good year, when I look at the bigger picture, well, I am not so sure.

Actually, the year was not all bad. In an op ed essay in the Sunday, December 29, New York Times, Nicholas Kristof points out that 2019 was the best year ever in terms of reduced, world-wide poverty, improved health, reduced infant mortality, empowerment for women, and better educational opportunities. We are making progress on many fronts. The U.S. economy has been strong, and we have averted any major, new wars or huge catastrophes. (For now anyway. Note the developments with Iran and North Korea.) Good news too rarely finds its way into newspapers or newscasts.

But still….

The year 2019 saw continued gun violence, the opioid crisis, an increase in hate crimes, increasing income disparities, attacks on Obamacare and the social safety net, widening divisions in our country, and more fires, devastating storms, and flooding due to climate change. And, of course, there was Trump.

For anyone paying attention, it is hard to miss the storm clouds gathering on the horizon. The major question that will be answered in 2020 will be, do we get another four years of Trump. If he is reelected, this would assure at least one more right wing, Supreme Court justice and probably the end of Roe v. Wade, continued denial of climate change, widening social divisions in the U.S. population, a diminished role for the U.S. in world leadership, less trust in government, more hostility to immigrants, cutbacks to help for the poor, an increase in hate crimes and vigilante groups, increased attacks on the free press, and God only knows what else. I am not sure that our institutions could survive another four years of Trump. I am not sure the country as we know it could.

Now as much as I detest Trump for the kind of person he is, for what he stands for, and for what he is doing, I also have to admit that he is as much a symptom as a cause. The major culprit, I believe, is globalism. The world is changing very fast due to the ease of travel, technology, and world trade. Much of this is good. It is a major factor in improving the standard of living for people all over the world as documented in the Kristof essay. But it has created major upheavals and produced winners and losers. In the U.S. the losers include many in the white working class, mainly men, who have seen their jobs shipped overseas, their incomes reduced, and lifestyles and values threatened. They see more people of color or who speak English with an accent taking jobs they believe rightfully belong to themselves, not to immigrants. They are fighting back. They see Trump as “their guy,” who will stand up against the “coastal elites” and others on whose watch globalism accelerated. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is their mantra. They constitute a large share of Trump’s intractable “base,” and have gone all in. Many are also Evangelicals, who I believe have crossed over to what I call “the Dark Side” for many of the same reasons.

All the blame, however, should not be placed on the uprooted, white working class. You can understand where they are coming from and the reasons for their discontent. They have been aided and abetted by a Republican Party that I believe has sold out to Trump in order to hold on to power regardless of the cost to what used to be Republican values of small government, personal responsibility, balanced budgets, human rights,  and ethical behavior. A lot of Trump’s support also comes from “one percenters,” who believe that Trump is their best bet for lower taxes, deregulation, and laissez faire economics. The tools that they are using are gerrymandering, voter restrictions, and targeted social media, all threats to our democracy.

The alienation caused by globalism is not just a U.S. problem. It is a worldwide phenomenon and is responsible in part for Brexit and for the authoritarian governments in former, fairly robust democracies like Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Egypt, and Brazil, and for the neo Nazi parties and hate groups forming throughout Europe. The big questions are how far this nativist populism will go and is our democracy inching toward authoritarianism. I believe that what happens in the presidential election in 2020 will determine the direction we are headed. The stakes have never been higher.

So 2020 could  be a pivotal year. Hanging over all of us humans on the planet, of course, is the threat of unmitigated disaster caused by global warming. The clock is ticking on this one. If we–all the counties on the planet–do not take major action now on reducing the amount of carbon we generate, much greater action than anything contemplated so far, scientists tell us we are doomed. We do not have another four years to waste before we can move decisively on combatting global warming. With Trump in charge, that will be the case.

What will 2020 have in store for us? It could be, as the saying goes, a game changer. Tighten your seat belts and get to work—for Democrats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On Christmas Eve of 2019 the Howell clan assembled at our daughter’s home in Portland ME: our two children with spouses, our four grandchildren ages 10 to 14,  our niece and nephew with spouses, and our two teenage grandnieces. Quite a houseful!  Embry and I are truly blessed.

 A week before our daughter, Jessica, asked if I would lead a small, family religious service on Christmas Eve. I readily and enthusiastically agreed, realizing that I would be addressing a gathering of the “unchurched”–two Buddhists, two self identified atheists, and the balance, for the  most part, “nones.”  Sort of typical for our time and era. 

The service consisted of a short introduction, a reading of Luke’s gospel of the Christmas story by the grandchildren and grandnieces, a “sermon,” by me,  a Christmas prayer, Christmas music lead by our nephew, a professional jazz guitarist, and to my pleasant surprise, an impromptu discussion regarding my Christmas message, which is shown below: “The Meaning of Christmas.”

 

Christmas is the day that Christians set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This happened over 2000 years ago and is a major feast day for over 2 billion people on the planet Earth who are Christians, more people than in any other religion. We are honoring the occasion tonight in a small, family gathering where for a few moments we think about what is the meaning of Christmas, the religious meaning of Christmas.

It occurs to me that some here might ask the question, do you have to be a Christian or a member of a Christian church to understand, appreciate, or participate in the meaning of Christmas from a spiritual or religious perspective. 

My answer is no. Now you know that Embry and I do go to church regularly and in fact Embry is on the governing board of All Souls Episcopal Church in Washington. You may even recall that I went to Union Theological Seminary in NYC and studied to become an Episcopal priest. So you can say that we probably have paid our dues. That maybe we are in a better position to understand the meaning of Christmas more than someone who doesn’t attend church.

There may be some truth to this, but on a deeper level, I think that you do not have to go to church or even have to call yourself a believer to “get it” when it comes to what Christmas is all about and what the meaning of Christmas is. But you do have to pay attention.

My understanding of God and the spiritual aspect of human life expands beyond any one church or any one religion. I believe there is a spiritual and holy dimension to the life all us humans live and experience. This is evident when we ask the question why we are here on this small, obscure planet. When we ask what the meaning and purpose of life is, why are things the way they are, and why aren’t they better. Why does evil exist? Why do we have to die? And what happens after we die? I venture to say that these questions are asked at one time or another by virtually every person. It is our nature. It is the way our brains work. It is what makes us human.

In my thinking and experience, “God” is the word we use to refer to a spiritual force and reality that is by definition beyond  human understanding and our ability to describe in language. But I believe it is real.

“Religion” is the word we use to describe our effort as humans to connect to this reality.  There is  a  lot about life that we can’t  understand. We live on one small, blue planet which circles around a run-of–the-mill star we call our sun. This star is one of more than 250 billion stars that are in our Milky Way galaxy. This small galaxy is part of more than two trillion galaxies in what we call the universe. But this universe may be only one in what some scientists speculate is actually  a multiverse where there are an infinite number of universes.  Is there anyone who can say that they figure this out, that they know what it all means?

We do know some things. Scientists tell us we now know that the universe all started with the Big Bang 14 billion years ago and is expanding. But they don’t tell us why.  We don’t know the answer to why or what or what it all means. We never will.

But what does this have to do with Christmas?  While science can tell us a lot about what, it cannot answer the question why nor does it try to. This is where religion comes in. Having faith and belief that it all makes sense somehow is what religion is all about. Now there are many different religions on the planet earth and about a half dozen or so “major religions,” Christianity being the largest of all, just a tad larger than Islam. However, I am not one to say that Christianity has all the answers or that it is the only way to make sense out of the world as to the meaning of life or, even more important, about our ability to experience on a deeper level what this meaning is, to experience the Divine. I look at the search for meaning as one destination with many pathways. Christianity is one pathway.

And what is that pathway? For me Christmas day is all about a small child being born in humble conditions. A small, innocent child—every child, I believe–represents hope for the future. It is a miracle when you think about it—that life continues and goes on. A new human being has entered the world! The birth of any child I think has a profound religious meaning.

And in the case of Christianity, this child became special because of the life he lived, which many people—those who call themselves Christian—believe provides a roadmap for us humans to follow, and a glimpse of the Divine . This roadmap can be boiled down to one phrase: love your neighbor. That love is the connection between humans and the divine, between humans and God. That is good enough for me, and I think,  good news about life on our fragile planet, Earth.

 What we do about it and how we live our own lives, of course, is another matter. We know we often fail. But this person we call Jesus also said that God loves us and that there is meaning and purpose in life even if we do not and cannot live up to a life of loving our neighbor. That there is hope.  That we are forgiven.

So the story of the birth of Jesus tells us that you do not have to count all the stars in the universe to find meaning and purpose and know that while it is all beyond our understanding, in the end our life on this planet does make sense. In the end it is good.

This is why Christians rejoice at Christmas. But I say it is not just for people who call themselves Christians or believers. It is a message for all humankind, and for that we all can rejoice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As we were dragging ourselves off the plane at Dulles Airport, I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking Embry, “Is this our last big trip? You promised. Please?”

I will have to give Embry credit. She has been the motivating force behind all of our travels; and if it were left to me, I would probably spend my days in front of the TV watching Joe Scarborough on MSNBC bash Trump. Well, maybe not exactly, but I am grateful to her for her energy, determination and will power, all driven by an unquenchable wanderlust. 

We have had some extraordinary journeys. Before this trip, together we had visited India and much of Southeast Asia, Russia, most of Europe, Japan, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Mongolia, China, Australia, and New Zealand. My contributions have been sailing in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the South  Pacific (Tahiti), and the Aegean. And, of course, there was our famous trip around the world without flying in 2015 and the Road Trip out West in 2016. All totaled they add up to more than 50 countries we have visited. As far as travel goes, we have had more than our share of opportunities. I am deeply grateful for this.

I suspect that the South American odyssey will in fact be out last big trip, and it was a good one to conclude with. My only question is why did it take us so long to get there. After all it is a lot closer than Asia or Australia, and the time zones are pretty close to ours reducing the jet lag. For some reason we from the U.S. (not “we Americans,” please) tend to downplay South America as a second rate part of the world. The image many have is that of a backwoods part of the world notable for failed governments, military juntas, crime cartels, street violence, poverty and ignorance. So why bother?

Well, if you have been following the blog, you know that the image is wrong. The vast continent is home to 14 countries and over 400 million people. It is among the most diverse areas in the world in terms of climate and terrain. It is the primary oxygen supplier to the planet Earth with the world’s largest rain forest. Its deserts are among the driest and its mountains among the tallest. It has the world’s biggest river, arguably the most beautiful waterfall, and stunning fiords that compare with those in Norway. It is rich in natural resources, a major world producer of gold and silver, along with agricultural products like bananas, coffee, and beef.  Though there are serious issues that affect the continent, it is by no means a “Third World” backwater.

It is also has a diverse population. Unlike what happened in the U.S., the invading European  conquistadors and adventures mixed with the indigenous population leaving behind a legacy of “mestizos,” a mixed race people with light tan skin, who comprise a large share of the population in many South American countries. Add to that mix the introduction of millions of slaves from Africa in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries and you have one of the most diverse populations in terms of race and skin color on the planet. Racism still exists in South America with a hierarchy that favors those of European descent, but it is different and seems more subtle than in the U.S. There is also a lot of difference between the countries. Indigenous peoples are more strongly represented in Peru and Ecuador and the West Coast, and those of African descent in Brazil. Argentina remains the lightest in skin color and feels the most European.

We found the people to be warm and friendly almost everywhere. Though there is plenty of poverty, we were never harassed at any time by a panhandler or someone trying to sell us something we did not want. In both Rio and Buenos Aires there were homeless people but fewer than you would see in DC. And unlike our trip around the world, I did not get pick pocketed or have my cellphone stolen.

If you were counting, we visited one country in the Caribbean (Aruba), one in Central America (Panama) and six in South America: Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil plus the Falkland Islands—a total of nine countries in all. They were all interesting in their own way. My favorite city was Buenos Aires, a world class city in every respect, comparing favorably to our best cities in the U.S. Rio is a close second for its extraordinary natural beauty. The in-your-face poverty and preponderance of favelas in Rio, however, is hard to ignore. The Chilean fiords win out as the most beautiful and dramatic part of the trip and should be on everyone’s bucket list  as should be Iguassu Falls. Uruguay  wins out as the most progressive, which may not be saying a whole lot but is impressive just the same.

There were several recurring themes that persisted during the trip. The first was what is now being called the great income disparity. While the equality issue is a world-wide phenomenon, it is even more apparent in the countries we visited than in the U.S. In Chile it was the focus of mass protests. The second theme was the fragility of the governments. Every country we visited in South America in its past has had brutal dictatorships, many multiple times. Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru have all had terrible, oppressive governments where the free press was curtailed and innocent people locked up or killed. Many people we talked to fear that this could happen again. It is happening now in Venezuela. It appears to be happening in Brazil and in  Chile and could happen in Argentina. Argentina also is staring financial collapse in the face.  Harder times could lie ahead.

At the same time you can’t help coming away with admiration and respect for the  people of South America, for their resilience, and their optimism despite staggering odds. You get the impression they will get through this.

So you may be thinking, all this travel you have taken over the years, what did you learn from it and did it make you any wiser. Did it make you a better person? Those, I have to say, are very good questions. If you are asking if I personally feel wise and smart because of the travels, the answer is no. I do not feel wise or smart. I also cannot say that his has made me a “better person.”

 On the other hand, I also have to admit that there is something to this travel. The result is not so much being wiser or smarter but rather the opposite—being more humble. When you travel you understand that there are a lot of different ways of doing things and that the way you do things is certainly not the only way and may not be the best way. You also not only realize but internalize that while we humans may speak different languages, have different skin colors and different customs, we are all basically cut from the same cloth. We are homo sapiens living life the best we can on the Planet Earth, playing the cards we have been dealt to the best of our ability. Sure, there are bad people in every culture and every country. Of course, we all mistakes and do dumb things, but what you come to realize when you think about the countries that you have been to and the people you have met is that, damn it, we basically are fundamentally the same. Coming to realize this in a personal way is the wisdom that comes from traveling a lot of places. 

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The biggest disadvantage of any large group tour–and especially  cruises–is that you never spend very much time in one place, you are usually herded along with a group of other clueless tourists like yourself, and you do not get much of a chance to explore on your own. To state the obvious: Spending only one day in Buenos Aires was absurdly inadequate. So we backtracked there via airplane to give us three more days, this time staying at an Airbnb.

I confess that I was a bit skittish about Airbnbs after our Baltic trip. The first apartment (in Lithuania) was a windowless dungeon with dangerous rickety stairs. The second had the key location (for the guest to pick up the door key) placed above the doorsill, which made the door key beyond reach for anyone under seven feet tall. When we complained to the owner and found another alternative, she basically chewed us out; and we then had to fight to get a partial refund. Embry had also booked an Airbnb in Rio, but when I told that to someone who had recently visited there, I was warned that the chances of getting robbed if we happened to be in the wrong neighborhood were close to one hundred percent. That is when I told Embry I was drawing the line and booked a hotel as an alternative. (Now I confess that I overreacted. We probably would have been fine.)

Well, in Buenos Aires the Airbnb was great. It was located in Recoleta, a New York, Upper East Side-type neighborhood, within walking distance of parks, museums and the waterfront. The lobby of the apartment building was a bid drab and sparse with a worn carpet and no art or pictures on the dark paneled walls, but the location could not have been better. While the apartment was quite small, it was fine for us.

 Even though it was  after nine pm when we arrived, the owner—a bearded young man probably in his mid-thirties– met us and took us up on the tiny elevator to his Airbnb  apartment on the eighth floor, provided us a  map, and made suggestions as to what to see. Following the orientation Embry and I walked to the next block to have dinner at one of the many bustling restaurants. Even though it was already after ten, people were just starting to gather for dinner; and when we left after 11:30, people were still arriving for dinner. (Naturally we ordered Argentine steaks, which were delicious, but not all that different from steaks you get in the U.S. at good steak houses as far as I could tell.)

In a word, Buenos Aires is fabulous! If I had not known where I was, I would have sworn I was in Paris. We spent the entire first day walking the Recoleta neighborhood and environs, strolling through numerous parks with  the purple blossoming jacaranda  tress, and along wide boulevards with fancy high rise apartments. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low seventies, blue skies and low humidity.  We visited a huge arts and crafts show and spent an hour in the Malda museum, the new modern art museum featuring Latin American artists. We also visited the famous cemetery with the elaborate mausoleums and finally the popular Japanese Gardens. My trusted fitness app showed us logging almost seven miles before we stumbled into the apartment after five, exhausted, followed by another late dinner.

The second day was much the same but at a slower pace. For lunch Andrew had connected us with Ana, an old friend from his days in Russia, who is now a well-known, performing classical pianist and who also runs a music school in Buenos Aires. We spent over two hours with her over brunch learning more about the country from an insider’s perspective. I would argue that two hours with Ana was worth two days with a typical tour guide in trying to  understand what was going on in the country, maybe more.

The big issue right now is the economy. Argentina got in trouble financially in the early 2000s, primarily by spending beyond its means resulting in high profile defaults and devaluation of the currency. They were able to claw their way back to financial health, however, and for the next 15 years enjoyed relative prosperity with low unemployment and a fairly stable currency. The last two years, however, have been a kind of déjà vu-all-over-again. The culprit appears to be the same old/same old—running up big national debts due to massive deficits. This has resulted in staggering inflation, which dropped the value of the Argentine peso by over 50% last year with values continuing to fall precipitously.  Not that long ago the peso traded at the same value as the dollar. At the time of our lunch with Ana it was 73 pesos to the dollar. If you are able convert pesos to dollars, you are doing it. This has resulted in a major run on the dollar. This past week basically the country ran out of dollars requiring the shipment of over $8 billion in cash to Argentina to keep the government and the banks afloat. The reason there are no dollars left in the banks according to an article we read in the Wall Street Journal is that people are so fearful of banks failing that the dollars they are pulling out are ending up under their mattresses. As a practical matter, I was not able to find an ATM or a bank that had any dollars available for my own use. I am not sure I understand the whole picture or exactly what is happening, but what I can understand is that the country already appears to be in crisis with catastrophe lurking just beneath the surface.

What makes the situation more fragile is problem of increasing income disparities, the same rich/poor divide that is affecting most of Latin America and the world. During good times, much was done in Argentina to address the concerns of the poor and working class by providing better access to social services, education and health care. All education including college and graduate school is now free in Argentina. So is virtually all of health care. Government employment practices were softened to provide more job opportunities and job security to poor people. These have been popular and enjoy strong support, especially from labor unions, which are much stronger in Argentina than in the U.S.

The problem is that to combat the financial crisis if the government imposes austerity measures or cuts back on the generous benefits, Ana and many others believe there might be a revolt. Everyone we talked to recalls the dark ages of the 1970s and early 1980s when the military junta was in charge, and they fear a military or even a radical populist takeover could happen again. Everyone also remembers even more vividly the meltdown of the early 2000s, and no one wants to go through anything like that again either. Both outcomes are possible if not probable.

Yet by observing the activity on the streets– the full restaurants, the many families gathered in the parks over the weekend, the relaxed mood on the  street– and which seemed upbeat to me– you would not guess that that there was anything wrong. What would impress you the most is just how beautiful and refined this city is, at least a lot of it. The favela neighborhoods (called “villas” in Argentina) also exist here just as they do in Rio, just not as prominent.

The evening of the second day was probably the highlight of the stay in Buenos Aires for me. We had dinner and watched a show at one of the most famous Tango establishments in Buenos Aires. It came recommended by an Argentine Tango dancer, who is also the friend of our friend and Tango musician herself, Joan Singer. The restaurant was decorated like a palace, no understated elegance here. The food and service were terrific and the dancing extraordinary. I counted some sixteen different performers, all fabulous—six tango dancers, six in the orchestra, and three singers.  I would put the experience at the top of my all-time list of dinner/show experiences though admittedly I am not a dinner/show person. Bottom line: if you ever get to Buenos Aires, you have got to see a Tango show.

The other thing you have got to do if you have the time is get out into the country to gaucho land, Argentina’s brand of cowboys and the wild West. On our third day we took our tour of gaucho country along with seven other tourists leaving around nine in the morning and returning at six and led by a very capable and enthusiastic guide. That excursion took us through the rolling hills and pastures, through one of the small ranching towns and to a large ranch where we ate great Argentine beef, fresh off the grill, and folk danced with the gaucho singers and dancers. Well, Embry danced. I took photos. 

When we returned at six, we retrieved our bags, flagged a cab to the airport and boarded a United Flight to Houston at ten in the evening. We then took  a  flight to Dulles and returned to home sweet home on Tuesday, November 26. Our South American adventure had officially come to an end.

One more post tomorrow before putting this adventure to bed—some final thoughts about this magical continent and why everyone who can should visit South America.

And if you are reading this this means you are following (at least to a degree) the adventure. Thanks! To know there are folks out there who are actually reading some or even all of this means a lot.

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