In It Together But at a Safe Distance——

In It Together But at a Safe Distance———

                Opinion

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                Suddenly the election campaigns seem far less important. Suddenly the sports pages are nearly devoid of news, March Madness better describes the run on toilet paper and groceries rather than basketball’s major tournament and the national pastime, baseball, is on hold. Suddenly our 401k accounts have been decimated and record low unemployment has become record high unemployment. Suddenly vacation plans and graduation celebrations have changed and Friday night celebrations with friends have ceased. And suddenly our lives have changed and the main thing that matters now is the health and safety of our families, friends and neighbors. Is this the new normal?

Most people alive today will recall nothing in their lifetimes to compare with this except, perhaps, those directly involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But I was born during the presidency of Herbert Hoover and though a child, vividly remember the gloom and despair of the Great Depression as family breadwinners like my father lost their jobs and we wondered if we’d have enough to eat, let alone pay the rent. America recovered after a decade of misery but it took a world war mobilization to do it. But the war brought on new concerns as fathers and brothers, including one of mine, were shipped overseas to fight a lengthy war from which many never returned and many of those who did bore the scars of combat.

Back home we rationed food and gas, did without many scarce commodities and gathered around the radio nightly to hear of the latest battles and casualties. We built air raid shelters, held air raid drills and did what we could to support the war effort and importantly, rallied around our president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to whom we gave an unprecedented 3^rd and 4^th term. Our allies, of course, had it far worse, especially those in bombed out cities and occupied and persecuted by Axis forces.

Now, we’re at war again, this time with a disease that may have a worse outcome than the 1918 Flu epidemic. We’ll win this war, also, of course, because we’re Americans and we’ll do what we must to survive but it will be tough and it will require the same spirit of sacrifice, cooperation, patriotism and innovation that enabled us to turn the tide in WW II. We’re in this together but at the same time we need to practice safe distancing to control the spread, at least until our medical facilities can better prepare for the expected caseload. This social distancing part is hard. I can’t put my arms around my kids or grandkids until this is over and, at my age, perhaps never again. That hurts.

Unless we get control of this pandemic, develop a vaccine or at least treatment that reduces the mortality rate, nothing else will matter much, including the November elections. America’s leaders and office holders, therefore need to focus on what really matters, namely winning this war. Above all, we need to listen to the experts and those with the authority and responsibility to get things done. Journalists have a particular responsibility to report accurate, authenticated information and recommendations, not just what coincides with their own personal bias or viewpoint. The time for party politics is over for the duration of this war.

Beside the health risk posed by the Covid19 disease, there is the grave risk to the economy. The latter may even be greater than the former because if draconian measures destroy the economy, our very future as a viable nation may be imperiled. No nation can survive forever or fund the fight against this pandemic without a functioning economy and none is impervious to collapse.

This disease began in China and Beijing was outrageously tardy in sharing initial information on the outbreak in Wuhan and the disease quickly spread globally. There is little point, however, in dwelling on the past. We need to focus on the future but there are lessons to be learned from China’s behavior. We know that every decision of importance made by Chinese authorizes must have the approval of the Chinese Communist Party and the party’s primary objective is the good of the party, not the good of the Chinese people or the world’s people, least of all ours. That knowledge should govern our future relations. We must never again be dependent upon China for anything vital to our people including pharmaceutical products and ingredients.

Finally, it bears repeating that in times of crisis we need to rally around our leaders. Donald Trump may be no FDR, but he is our president and will be until he is voted out of office or ceases to run. Pray for him and for America. Stay well.

 

Old Guys Rule

Old Guys Rule——————————

                Opinion

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

Not long ago, there were a dozen and a half candidates and then there were two. No, I don’t mean Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. I’m referring to Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Sanders is finished, thanks to Super Tuesday. Southern Democrats and black voters were never going to vote for a Socialist to become the most powerful person on earth. The last two men standing will be President Trump and former Vice-president Joe Biden, two old white guys set to duke it out for the presidency, provided their health and energy holds out. In fact, the last three viable Democrat candidates, Biden, Sanders and Bloomberg, were all old white guys in spite of all the emphasis on diversity. Now isn’t that ironic? I guess old guys really do still rule.

Sen. Bernie Sanders had a youth problem. To be sure, they were attracted in great numbers to his campaign, entertained by his sincerity and passion and delighted by the promises of abundant free stuff. Having little experience in the real world, however, least of all with socialist governments and the misery they produced, they were not deterred by the socialist label or even aware of the disasters most socialist nations had become. They loved the rallies and the free stuff but too many of them just couldn’t seem to get around to actually voting. They didn’t turn out in sufficient numbers on Super Tuesday and probably wouldn’t on November 3^rd either. Older people actually vote. Younger people mostly complain. Joe Biden has a youth problem, also. He’s old and he’s the establishment favorite. That doesn’t endear him to young, impatient Americans.

So the final contest will come down to 73-year-old Donald Trump vs. 77-year-old Joe Biden who would be an octogenarian at the end of a first term. We wish them both a long life but the average life expectancy for an American male is 78. Actually, they have something in common besides their advanced age. Both are unpredictable. One never knows what Trump is going to say or tweet. One also never knows when the gaffe-prone Biden will forget where he is and why he’s there. Both are prone to anger and sensitive to criticism.

Old guys, and old gals for that matter, are among those most at risk in the current coronavirus pandemic because the virus attacks the respiratory system and respiratory ailments tend to be common among the elderly. Mr. Trump can’t seem to stop shaking hands. It’s what politicians do. Mr. Biden is a touchy-feely kind of guy. Both should set a good example and shake those habits for the duration of the epidemic. They also should cancel rallies. Better yet, why not cease campaigning altogether and devote the time and money to something actually useful like fighting the epidemic and helping the victims.

After all, we already know what they stand for and what they support. Trump’s second term will be a continuation of the first, including the good and the bad, complete with uninhibited tweets. A Biden presidency would be Obama- lite, perhaps with memory lapses. Both would be profligate spenders. Trump is now spending like a Democrat. The budget deficit in his last five months increased by 15% over the same period last year.

Biden will demonstrate his inconsistency on issues as he endeavors to show voters that he really is a moderate and that his leftward lurch early in the campaign was just a strategy. Trump’s re-election prospects will be harmed by the serious economic damage caused by the pandemic. It isn’t his fault, of course, but voters with their myopic vision, tend to blame incumbents for any disaster, natural or man-made, that occurs on their watch.

The candidates should take a solemn vow to avoid using the pandemic disaster as a political weapon. It’s far too serious and Americans are in no mood for politics as usual. They are far more concerned now with health and financial issues than with political campaigns and debates. We must trust and support the experts and those in charge of fighting this pandemic. They have access to the most reliable sources of information and to the available resources. Let them do their job. There will be time enough for criticism after people stop dying.

 

 

Dealing With the Corona Virus

Dealing with the Corona Virus Threat——————

                Opinion              

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                When you have lived as long as I have, you have seen many crises come and go, including the Great Depression, WWII, the threat of nuclear war, urban riots, polio, flu and other epidemics, 9/11 and many more. The good news is that they do eventually pass. During President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, with the nation wrapped in the gloom and despair of the Great Depression and millions out of work, he famously said that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself.

He was right. We survived the Great Depression and grew stronger. We led the allies to victory in WW II and emerged as the world’s mightiest superpower and top economy. In every major crisis, we rallied around our elected leaders, put politics on the back burner and worked together, demonstrating that as a united people and nation, we could accomplish almost anything. We’ve always believed that the American spirit could overcome any adversity. That belief may soon be tested again.

We don’t know how serious the novel corona virus epidemic may finally turn out to be for us and as yet there is no vaccine. As I write this, the state of Washington has reported a death from the Covid-19 disease and has declared a state of emergency. The pharmaceutical industry is working against time to develop a vaccine. We are so often quick to criticize that industry for high drug prices but now we’re praying that they have the resources and the ability to find one soon. We can’t help but wonder what might become of that industry if, say, a President Bernie Sanders nationalized it as part of his health care reform.

Whether or not the corona virus causes an extensive major health crisis here, it has already created a major economic one. Hard-hit countries like China, South Korea and Japan have experienced serious economic damage affecting worldwide supply chains including ours. Tourism and business travel has slowed to a crawl. Business and the stock market hate uncertainty, so stocks took a beating, wiping out this year’s gains and some of last year’s, taking a toll on retirement accounts.

Uncertainty promotes fear and fear promotes overreaction, especially by politicians and the media. In this environment, governments at every level need to act responsibly and calmly to prepare for the worst, keep the public informed honestly but without drama and displays of self-importance. The media need to focus on objective reporting of verified news on the epidemic, avoiding sensational, speculative predictions of disaster or politically-inspired accusations of incompetence that unnecessarily alarm the public. This is not one of those crises that you should never allow to go to waste, to paraphrase the words of Rahm Emanuel.

Politicians who seek to weaponize a health crisis like this for political purposes are despicable and become part of the problem. This is not a debatable issue like impeachment or trade policies that ordinary Americans are too busy to pay more than passing attention to. This is a threat to their health and that of their loved ones and perhaps their very lives, which they care very much about and are paying close attention to. They will have little patience for political squabbling and finger –pointing by their political leaders.

People will demand that their political leaders put politics aside and work together to find solutions. If they cannot offer constructive suggestions on the subject, at least they should support those who can or else keep quiet about something they probably know little or nothing about. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer need to lay off the reflexive criticism of the president and focus more on what resources Congress needs to provide to deal effectively with this crisis. This applies, as well, to those members of Congress who are campaigning for the Democrat presidential nomination and are so focused on beating and blaming Donald Trump that they are neglecting their congressional duties.

March 8, 2020

A Farewell to Fritz

A Farewell to Fritz—————————

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

It wasn’t a particularly tearful event. Our son, a daughter, daughter-in-law, her son and his fiancé were there and we laughed and joked about it as we backed Fritz down the driveway and unto a trailer for the ride to his new home in Arizona. Fritz is a 1968 Volkswagon bug, or beetle, as it’s sometimes called, which I’ve owned for half a century. My eldest daughter named it Fritz back in the 1980’s when it was her daily driver.

My children learned to drive in Fritz and when they got through denting the fenders, I had it restored to its current, near-pristine condition and pale blue color. It was real traffic-stopper, mainly because of its simple beauty, but also because of its tendency to stall out when idling at traffic stops. You had to goose the engine at traffic stops to keep it idling, sometimes provoking obscene gestures from crossing pedestrians. It also would, on occasion, change lanes all by itself, just to see if you were paying attention. It was a great safety feature, actually, and kept you off your cellphone.

Mostly, though, it was very reliable. Throughout much of my thirty-year naval career, it lived on both the east and west coasts and made the trip between the two in tow behind the family station wagon, loaded with clothes and other possessions. I commuted to three Pentagon assignments in Fritz and it never let me down. Well, almost never. One day it swallowed a valve with a loud clunk and stopped dead. My bad. You’re supposed to tune the valves regularly on that 4-cylinder, opposed piston, air-cooled engine. I had the engine rebuilt and with a new heart transplant, Fritz ran like a top for forty more years.

While living in Virginia, I received orders to command a guided missile cruiser, via some training classes in Newport, Rhode Island. I planned to get an early start on Sunday for the drive up the coast but a blizzard hit the east coast and ominous traffic warnings were issued. Not to worry. The VW bug, with its rear engine, had great traction in snow. It turned out to be the worst snow storm I’ve ever driven in but Fritz was up to the task. Most of the way, that is.

I got behind an eighteen-wheeler in Delaware whose tail lights I could barely make out and followed it all the way to New York. I think we were the only vehicles on the Jersey Turnpike. From New York to Rhode Island, however, we were on our own, but Fritz plowed on with Germanic determination all the way to Newport. We crossed the bridge over Narragansett Bay and were in sight of the Naval Station as we turned onto the off ramp. That’s when the rear end decided to get ahead of the front end and the car skidded into a huge snowbank. (It’s pronounced “yuge” in the northeast.) The little car was almost buried. Several snow plow operators, who for some reason though the accident was simply hilarious, dug me out and Fritz and I made it to class on time. We needn’t have worried about it though. We were the only ones that did. It was quite a storm.

Many garages in Coronado are filled with relics like my old VW. They, in turn, are filled with memories of the past. It’s hard to let go. My kids learned to drive in that car. My parents, two older siblings, my 93 year-old aunt and numerous friends, now gone, rode in that car. I love old cars. To me, they have personalities. I have trouble letting go of them. At one time, I had a fleet of six. Space in Coronado is scarce, however, and it was time to let go of Fritz. Auf Wiedereshen, Fritz, und danke.

But Fritz is staying in the family. My son and daughter-in-law took custody and they promised me visiting privileges. My 1967 lime gold, all original Mustang fastback with factory steel mag wheels, however, stays with me until my very last breath and the keys are pried from my cold, dead fingers. Don’t even ask me if it’s for sale and please don’t touch the paint.

March 8, 2020