A few things on my mind this morning. First concerns politics. Yesterday I wrote about my son running for mayor of Greensboro. Small town politics. You don't need to declare a party affiliation and you don't need a ton of money to run a campaign. At least in Greensboro you don't. Which brings me to my first random thought of the day. I was listening to the news and the incumbent mayor of the city of Baltimore will not be seeking reelection. Her stated reason being, the city requires my full attention and running a campaign would be a distraction from the job. A noble sentiment and a very smart political move. For those of you that may not be aware the city of Baltimore is having serious issues. Rioting, gun violence, people being murdered, just all kinds of trouble. The Freddie Grey case has already cost the city a 6.4 million dollar settlement with that family. Now six police officers involved in that arrest are going on trial. The day after this announcement news media and others were questioning the mayor about her decision to run. Some questioned whether she was being genuine in her stated reason. Some questioned whether she could win. Her response was, I have more money than any of the others ! That's right, she felt like she could win if she ran again because she had more money than the others. Says something about the political system doesn't it ? Amazing that a politician would just come right out and say that too. She didn't say she would be the best choice just that she had the most money. Well, I guess we all know that is the case most of the time. Still, it upsets me to hear it.
And now the pope is coming to Baltimore. It is his first trip to America. An exciting time for the catholic community. One thing bothers me about this visit though. He will be holding a mass, by invitation only, and has stated he will do the mass in Spanish. What ? On his first trip to America he holds a mass and does so in the Spanish language ? What's up with that ? Where there no Latin American countries to visit ? What about Spain ? Coming to America to speak Spanish ? I just don't get it. I respect the pope and his office. It is a wonderful thing for him to come and visit. He does offer hope and inspiration to millions. The thing is, you are in America ! We speak English here. When I go to Rome, and I have been there, I try to speak Italian. It is a courtesy thing. I've been to Vatican City and they speak Italian. In Baltimore, and I've been there too, they speak English, sorta. I mean it is not Long Island English but you can understand them for the most part. I just thought that America was identified with the English language speaking portion of the world. It is a part of our identity. Guess that is changing too. Is the Pope coming to American to address Americans ? If so shouldn't he speak our language ? I don't know, political correctness I suppose.
I watch the news and see about the refugees. Syrian peoples striving to be free. Running from the oppression and running from fear. And the president want to bring thousands of them here. Ah, no. I think we have just about enough foreign refugees and undocumented immigrants to deal with right now. And these Syrians are not known for their compassionate feelings about Americans. Charity begins at home alright. We do need to deal with the crisis in our own backyard first. Tough choices need to be made. Donald Trump, love him or hate, will at least make a choice. May or may not be the right choice, but it will not be a choice made solely because it is the popular choice. Of course I feel compassion for those folks but there are limits. We have reached that limit. Let us not forget the Boston Bombers were Syrians, striving to be free ! No, not all of them are like that but it only took two ! Just sayin' it is not a good idea to just let'em in by the thousands. Just who is going to feed them ? Who is going to clothe them ? What jobs are they going to get ? Don't we already have a problem in those areas ? You can't always say, yes.
Well who knew that getting old would bring with it so many worries and concerns. I just want to go back to the playground sometimes. No problems and live for the minute. Maybe I could just move to a remote mountaintop. Just air lift my supplies in and live free. No television and news to bother me. Be like a mountain man or something. I could be the first mountain man blogger ! I would need a one way internet connection though, only outgoing. Then I suppose I would worry about that. Man, it was better when I didn't understand or really care about all this stuff.
And now the pope is coming to Baltimore. It is his first trip to America. An exciting time for the catholic community. One thing bothers me about this visit though. He will be holding a mass, by invitation only, and has stated he will do the mass in Spanish. What ? On his first trip to America he holds a mass and does so in the Spanish language ? What's up with that ? Where there no Latin American countries to visit ? What about Spain ? Coming to America to speak Spanish ? I just don't get it. I respect the pope and his office. It is a wonderful thing for him to come and visit. He does offer hope and inspiration to millions. The thing is, you are in America ! We speak English here. When I go to Rome, and I have been there, I try to speak Italian. It is a courtesy thing. I've been to Vatican City and they speak Italian. In Baltimore, and I've been there too, they speak English, sorta. I mean it is not Long Island English but you can understand them for the most part. I just thought that America was identified with the English language speaking portion of the world. It is a part of our identity. Guess that is changing too. Is the Pope coming to American to address Americans ? If so shouldn't he speak our language ? I don't know, political correctness I suppose.
I watch the news and see about the refugees. Syrian peoples striving to be free. Running from the oppression and running from fear. And the president want to bring thousands of them here. Ah, no. I think we have just about enough foreign refugees and undocumented immigrants to deal with right now. And these Syrians are not known for their compassionate feelings about Americans. Charity begins at home alright. We do need to deal with the crisis in our own backyard first. Tough choices need to be made. Donald Trump, love him or hate, will at least make a choice. May or may not be the right choice, but it will not be a choice made solely because it is the popular choice. Of course I feel compassion for those folks but there are limits. We have reached that limit. Let us not forget the Boston Bombers were Syrians, striving to be free ! No, not all of them are like that but it only took two ! Just sayin' it is not a good idea to just let'em in by the thousands. Just who is going to feed them ? Who is going to clothe them ? What jobs are they going to get ? Don't we already have a problem in those areas ? You can't always say, yes.
Well who knew that getting old would bring with it so many worries and concerns. I just want to go back to the playground sometimes. No problems and live for the minute. Maybe I could just move to a remote mountaintop. Just air lift my supplies in and live free. No television and news to bother me. Be like a mountain man or something. I could be the first mountain man blogger ! I would need a one way internet connection though, only outgoing. Then I suppose I would worry about that. Man, it was better when I didn't understand or really care about all this stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment