Thoughts of a Common Man

Third-graders at a private school in Bethesda aren't allowed to wear their Redskins jerseys to school anymore. I didn't get the school's name but that doesn't matter... ...this argument has been going on awhile. The Redskins won't hear any of it. Snyder isn't changing the name, and every year we hear all about it. When the topic comes up there's always a white guy on a radio show somewhere who says: "Leave it alone! I know a Native American guy and it doesn't bother him!" Kind of like saying: "I have black friends," when someone calls you a racist. Is it offensive? Not to me... ...but if they were the Washington Wops... ...I might have a problem. The Washington Pollacks? Washington Drunk Irish Dudes? The examples are endless, and the Redskins term was deragatory some time ago, right? But I see the other side of it as well. That has been the team name forever. It's a brand. Big money. Plenty of proud...

Jay Thomas, the humorist, actor, radio show host, who died this past week... ...and made me sad... ...actually left a note behind, telling people not to be sad because he had a lot of fun, and lived his life as if he were on vacation every day. I loved that! And unfortunately I think about such things too much, but I do know what Jay was saying there. Death is the big end, right. Yet, I certainly feel much as Jay has felt throughout his days. I've enjoyed my time immensely, and if something happens suddenly I'd love people to know that much. Life has always felt like a bit of a vacation for me as well. Even with the physical pain of the last few years I have always enjoyed my life's work, and writing the books has been a tremendous pleasure... ...it's what I might do if someone said that we only had 24 hours left! I'd spend as much time as I could with the ones I love, of course, but at the very last moment I might end up with a pen and a noteboo...

Who isn't horrified by the photos of the people in Texas? If you aren't, and your brain instantly switches to laying blame, or amping up for a fight... ...well, you might have a problem. I spent a lot of time considering the horror, and then some of the images made me turn my thoughts to the compassion. I watched a video of a man, with an elderly woman in a basket, trying to balance everything as he hung by a tether, and tried to lift her into a helicopter. The rain and wind pummeling him, as he worked. The sense of relief on his face as he handed her off. I saw a photo of a man, wading through waist deep water, holding a German Shepherd close. Saving the life of a dog. And it occurred to me. This is America. None of the hateful rhetoric matters right now. Rescuers aren't checking citizenship papers. Men and women are banding together to save lives. Wading in to look for people who are stranded. Carrying people, on their backs to safety. And wh...

They say that 60% of the people who were told to evacuate in advance of the hurricane decided to stay right where they were. Hopefully they all did okay, but the photos don't seem to bear that out. It's horrifying to hear about freeways flooded and people on the roof of their homes, waiting to be rescued. Yet the sheriff in one of the towns told those who wanted to stay that he hoped they'd put their social security numbers on their arms so they could be easily identified. I don't think it'd be much of a call around here. As much as we enjoy our home, we'd most certainly pack up the car and head for higher ground. I can't imagine how scary it must be to see the news reports and know that your home is gonna get filled with water. Everything that you've worked for gone, and the flood protection regulation just recently stripped under an executive order... ...so insurance companies don't have to pay out. We've never had such an emergency...

It's been a lot of years since I first heard of Sheriff Joe Apraio and his controversial techniques in Arizona. Like many others I sort of believed that it was a progressive way to get something out of those who might be in jail. Why let prisoners sit around, lift weights and watch television? Can't they be put to work somehow? Yet, time has passed and a lot of light was placed on Joe's antics. And they were antics. Before you jump to his defense, consider that many of those confined in his tent city hung themselves. Others were treated like animals. Many, many, many were rounded up because of what they looked like. The color of their skin. Immigration isn't an easy subject. That border line is like a huge scar running for miles. Men and women, running for their lives crossed that line. Not rapists or criminals in most respects. Men and women. And once in a land where freedom reigns, they were rounded up and stripped of their freed...

Damn! This one hurts!! I was a big fan of Jay Thomas' radio show. Jay died on Thursday and of course, I didn't have any idea that it was coming. He'd been really sick a little while ago, but I didn't have any idea that he was THAT sick! Because he was never serious for too long. Yet there were a whole bunch of highlights that flooded into my brain. Jay was a good friend of the husband of a good friend of mine. Yvonne was my next door neighbor growing up, and one day, Jay spoke about her on his show. The story he told made me shake with laughter. I also enjoyed Jay's politics. He was a true straight shooter. "Get rid of him...get rid of him!" Jay would shout when a caller would get on his nerves. And then there was the interview with Kevin Bacon. Before the interview Jay was asked not to bring up the fact that Kevin Bacon lost money to Bernie Madoff. "So, you lost money in the Madoff deal, huh?" Jay asked, almost immediatel...

Sometimes my job takes me to interesting places. I have to be honest, I didn't know much about Old Fort Niagara. I always loved history too...but didn't retain it. The battle back in the 1700's was told on the plaques and in the actions of the men and women who dress up in the old uniforms. And then I entered the castle. That's when I was blown away by the architecture and the vintage furniture. I could almost imagine the scenes as they prepared for battle. The mason who is working on some of the brick was my tour guide. We marveled at how the place was built back all those years ago. "You have to see the jail," he said. I thought about the battle waged in the field. I heard about the underground tunnels and we went looking for the cannons. "That's where they loaded them." "Whoa," I said. "This is so freaking cool!" As we were heading back to the work area we saw a woman, dressed in the garb of the d...