A compelling history

Recently, my wife and I spent the weekend in Montgomery, Alabama.  The impetus to select Montgomery as a destination grew from us watching the Ken Burns documentary on County Music.  One of the episodes featured Hank Williams, and we decided to visit the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery.  It was a most interesting and fascinating experience and reinforced the creative genius that Hank Williams possessed.  The number of songs that he wrote, produced and sung are legion and the title of the documentary’s episode was the Hillbilly Shakespeare”.  How true.  Hank Williams lived a rather tormented life and many of his songs reflect on the many personal tragedies and challenges that he tried to live through but succumbed in the back seat of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac convertible at the every so young age of 29.   It is fitting that he died in West Virginia on his way to a performance in Canton, Ohio.  One wonders what he might have continued to produce had he lived longer, but it was not meant to be.

While in Montgomery on a damp, raining afternoon, we also visited The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.  It is a national memorial to commemorate the victims of lynching in the United States.  The intended purpose of the Memorial is to acknowledge past racial terrorism and advocate for social justice throughout the country.  A project of the Equal Justice Initiative, it opened in April 2018.  Located in a raised area of the Memorial is the memorial square where there are 805 hanging steel rectangles, the size and shape of coffins.  On each of the hanging coffins are the engraved name(s), county and state where a documented lynching took place. Almost 5000 documented lynching’s of African Americans took place between 1877 and 1950, primarily in 12 Southern states.   Within the same building is a wall with water continuously flowing over it that represents those who have been lynched, but whose names are not known. 

Laid in rows on the ground are steel columns corresponding to those hanging in the Memorial.  These columns are organized by state and the counties in each state where a lynching took place.  The names of those lynched are, likewise, engraved on the coffins.  Additionally, throughout the grounds are sculptures depicting the dehumanizing struggles that African Americans endured throughout the southern states during the latter part of the 1800’s and the first 50 years of the 1900’s.  It is my belief, that no one can walk through and observe what lies before you without being profoundly moved by the experience.  My wife captured the essence of the experience by referring to it as, sobering.  Indeed, it was very sobering and an experience not to be forgotten.

Later that day we took the shuttle to The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration.  The Museum is located on the site of a former warehouse where black people were enslaved in Montgomery.   Its location is one block from one of the most prominent slave auction spaces in America and steps away from an Alabama dock and rail station where tens of thousands of black people were trafficked during the 19th century.   The intended goal is to lead those who visit the museum on the path from slavery to racial oppression in other forms, including lynching and mass incarceration of minorities.  There are multiple photographs, videos, interactive displays and sculptures which, in a very cogent way, depict the sordid history of the treatment of African Americans in this country.  One display contains jar after jar of soil collected from the ground beneath where a human being was lunched.  Spending the afternoon at the Memorial and the Museum, brought back a memory in my life from my days in high school.  In August of 1955 a young black adolescent left Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi and never returned to Chicago.  He was severely beaten, shot, mutilated, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River where his remains were found days later.  His crime was that he, allegedly, whistled at a young white woman.  Just a few years ago the woman recanted on her accusation that led to Emmett’s death.  Emmet’s cousin was a year behind me at the high school we both attended and in his adult life has been a champion for racial justice.

As noted earlier, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) was the organization that was the catalyst for the development of the Memorial and the Museum.  The founder of the EJI, is also the author of the book, Just Mercy, which focuses on his efforts to free wrongly convicted men on death row in Alabama and was featured in the movie by the same title, Just Mercy.  The book and the movie are extremely compelling and riveting and highlight the scars of racial injustice in this country. There have been any number of examples of actions taken by prosecutors to secure convictions, at any cost, which has led to the conviction of an innocent person.  It has been estimated that at a minimum, 1 in 5, death penalty convictions have been wrong.  Fortunately, there are now DNA tests that definitively determine whether the person who has been convicted is the person who should have been convicted.  Additionally, there also are the Bryan Stevenson’s (Founder of EJI) in this country who, tirelessly, fight to have these wrongful convictions overturned.  Another celebrated case in Alabama is the case of Anthony Ray Hinton who was freed after serving over 30 years for two murders that he did not commit.  The lawyer who fought to have his convictions overturned was Bryan Stevenson and Hinton’s amazing story is captured in his book, The Sun Does Shine: How I found Life, Freedom, and Justice.

There has been a measure of progress made in the treatment of minorities in this country, but there is a long way to go.  The glaring need for much more progress was captured in a recent article in the Washington Post, “Trump’s rhetoric has changed the way hundreds of kids are bullied in classrooms”.   Throughout this lengthy article, kid after kid, related experiences of blatant discrimination directed toward them by fellow students, but also by teachers. Kids have been quoted as stating that if it’s OK for the president to say these derogatory things then it’s OK for us to do the same.  This is a sad commentary on where we are as a nation.  There is a message in the words of a saying that I have posted in my office: “Every FATHER should remember that one day his children will follow his EXAMPLE instead of his ADVICE”.  It would do this country well if the occupant of the Oval Office would take heed and come to realize that his words and actions are the example that kids and adults in this country are following.  These behaviors are not the behaviors that need to be promulgated for the generations of the future.

A few reflections

Given all that has transpired over the past several months, it is somewhat challenging to isolate on an area that might have some degree of interest.  Certainly, there is the impeachment event in Washington that has captured a significant amount of time with the media outlets as well as characterizing the banter around the country’s pubs and other places were people gather.  There are those who side with what has been a very tepid defense of the wayward activities of a president who seems to be able to justify anything and everything that he does whether it be right, wrong, or questionable.  Conversely, there are those who believe, without the slightest of reservations, that the president has engaged in the abuse of power by his attempt to pressure the Ukrainian President.  His stonewalling decision-making about the release of documents and making administrative personnel unavailable for questioning, hence the obstruction of congress. 

To bolster the defense to justify the president’s actions and to undermine the articles of impeachment, two distinguished jurists, Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, were brought into the fold.  It has been somewhat fascinating to listen to each of them speak with forked tongue.  Going back to the impeachment of President Clinton when they both argued that an impeachable offense does not have to be the commission of an actual crime.  Now, compare that with the language of today.  Particularly, Dershowitz has argued that “no crime has been committed”.  He justifies the obvious contradiction by stating that he had not considered other arguments defining an impeachable act.  What?  This noted legal scholar admitting that he failed to consider all aspects of this critical issue in times past.  Certainly, there is an absence of evidence that this noted scholar is influenced by or adhering to the hallowed legal principle of precedence.

 Further, do also keep in mind, that this is the same Kenneth Starr who was the president of Baylor University when they were exposed for failing to address sexual allegations from women who claimed to have been abused by some football players. In his presidential capacity, Starr ordered an investigation into the charges by a prestigious law firm, and in a scathing 13-page summary the law firm found that Baylor, under Starr’s leadership, had done little to respond to accusations of sexual assaults.  Yes, this is the same Kenneth Starr, who as Special Prosecutor, vigorously and with great zeal pursued charges against President Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.  Bit ironic, isn’t it.    

 On another note, the recent tragic death of basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in the helicopter crash over the recent weekend highlights the fragile reality of life.  “In the twinkling of an eye” life can be no more.  In the Book of James, it states: “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”    Indeed, those lost in the crash are gone and there is no tomorrow.  Similarly, here in Alabama, the fiery tragedy at the boat dock in Scottsboro which, as of this writing, took eight lives that will not have any more tomorrows.  Certainly, there is a permanency in death.  It is final.  There are no maybes, what ifs, or second chances.  Indeed, we will all face the end of life at some point and, I believe, I’m getting closer and closer to that eventuality.  In each of these tragedies, it all happened, accidently.  There was not a plan to be followed or preparations to be made—it just happened.   A friend falls, undoubtedly hits his head, and his life is snuffed out.  No more tomorrows.  Even when one lingers with a chronic illness and the end of life is inevitable, when it happens, it’s difficult because of the finality of life no more.  Those who subscribe to various religious orientations can find solace in the belief that there is a tomorrow.  There is a life after the earthly journey and those beliefs can provide a modicum of calm and acceptance. 

Granted, there are other events that have occurred during this time and I have, no doubt, fixated on the more surreal and unfathomable.  Why are we experiencing the events that are going on in Washington?  Is this all simply an inevitable outcome of repeated behavior by someone who seems to believe that there are no boundaries that must be recognized and followed?  Was the helicopter crash simply the fateful outcome of a bad decision to take off when visibility was so poor and all law enforcement aircraft had been grounded?  Was the pre-dawn fiery inferno on the backwaters of the Tennessee River just a bad nightmarish event due to someone being careless or inattentive?  Answers are not easy to come by and for those of us still waddling our way through life, we shall keep on waddling.

David versus Goliath

Many of us are familiar with the Biblical story of David versus Goliath.  In addition to it being included in the Bible, it has become a reference to the fight between the small and the mighty.  Let me share such a story with you.

For most of the years we have been members of the faculty of the University of Alabama or retirees from these positions, we have purchased season tickets for home football games.  This past year, 2019, was no exception.  Both my wife and I had the option to purchase two tickets for each of the home games and we did so.  In the earlier part of the season, we gave away several of the tickets to games that we had no interest in attending.  As the season progressed, I decided to place two tickets on StubHub for the Arkansas and Tennessee games.  StubHub is a secondary ticket outlet that has an agreement with the university to allow individuals to sell tickets on this outlet.  I have been doing this for several years, but this year I had a much different experience.  Do keep in mind that the university encourages ticketholders to use StubHub so that seats do not go unoccupied.  In previous years they included a brochure advertising StubHub in the envelope that included the season tickets. 

I listed the Tennessee tickets at the price I paid for them and the Arkansas tickets at a price below what I paid.  In both instances, I would have to pay a fee to StubHub; therefore, I would lose money.  Both sets of tickets sold, and I was instructed to enter the barcode numbers.  I listed these numbers and received a message that the tickets were not eligible for resale.  Needless-to-say, I was surprised and annoyed.  Several calls to StubHub led to the same message that the University of Alabama had placed the restriction on the resale of the tickets.  Let me note that the tickets were Faculty/Staff tickets, but this has never been an issue in the past.  Not only was I being restricted from selling the tickets that I purchased, I was also obligated for a “fine” by StubHub to cover their cost in finding replacement tickets for the purchaser of my tickets.   My annoyance became a bit more magnified.  I sent an email that included the Athletic Director and everyone I could of think of below him.  Subsequently, I received several calls from the Associate Athletic Director who has responsibility for the sale of tickets. 

I rent an office from an attorney and discussed all of this with him.  I was able to advise the Associate Athletic Director that I had consulted my attorney about the obvious inconsistency.  He informed me that they had been in consultation with the university attorneys as well.  In my discussions, I stated that they were talking out of both sides of their mouth.  On the one hand, they instruct the ticketholder to sell tickets on StubHub and on the other hand, preclude this from happening.  I stated that this was not right, and I was not going to lose any money.  I was assured that this would not happen.   I was also told that I had brought this inconsistency to their attention and they were appreciative of my actions which would lead to them revising their policy and practices.  On the ticket application there is a section that describes selling Faculty/Staff tickets at a profit and the state Ethics Law.  The University claims that selling tickets at a profit as a state employee is in violation of the Ethics Law.  It is interesting that through all of this, the University came to the realization that retired Faculty/Staff are no longer state employees and; therefore, are not bound by the Ethics Law regarding the sale of tickets.  David, in this case me, sort of has the Mighty (Goliath), in this case the University of Alabama, over the proverbial barrel.   Somehow StubHub negated the Tennessee sale, but did charged me $32 for their trouble regarding the Arkansas tickets. Subsequently, they credited my charge card the $32.  We’ll see if the policy changes.

Given, I could not sell on StubHub, I decided to try Craig’s List and that’s another convoluted story.  The Arkansas tickets sold with no problem and we met and sat next to the couple at the game.  The Tennessee tickets, not so.  Initially, I received a text from an “alleged husband” asking on behalf of his “alleged wife” if I still had the two Tennessee tickets.  I responded, I did.  Then I began to receive emails from “Monica Lawrence” instructing me to get the tickets to her husband.  Never was there a response that gave a name, address or a way to get tickets to the “husband”. After numerous exchanges, I received an envelope delivered by FedEx with a check in the amount of $1980.  The tickets were no longer an issue, but I was to take out $100 for my trouble and get the rest of the money to her “husband”.  I had no idea how to do this.  The check was “allegedly” drawn on an Edward Jones account by the Fort Worth Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas to the Attention of Bill Boomer.  I called the Foundation and asked by Bill Boomer and the person stated, “did you get a check, too?”  It was mentioned that the Foundation had received 10-15 similar calls and, yes, it was all a hell of a scam.  I did get a subsequent email from “Monica Lawrence” threatening to report me to the authorities.  I did contact the FBI and they put me in contact with their cyber unit.  I completed a report and have heard nothing.

I mention the use of Craig’s List to put the total experience in perspective.  I would never have had to deal with “Monica Lawrence” and “her husband” if the “mighty” – the University of Alabama - had not screwed with “David” – me.  I sincerely do hope they clean all of this up because we did not deserve to go through this mess nor should anyone else.  I spent a lot of time dealing with a mess that should never have occurred.  Through it all, I did lose the payment for the Tennessee tickets and chose to donate them to a local charity. 

An argument for impeachment

Although we recently celebrated Thanksgiving, there is just a bit of irony in the use of that word at this challenging time in our nation’s history.  It is interesting to reflect that in my lifetime, we have endured two impeachments and a third that will, no doubt, reach that status, in a period of around five decades.  Prior to the 1970’s, the previous impeachment was back in 1868.  A little over 100 years passed until we had the impeachment inquiry of Richard Nixon.  As we know, the Judiciary Committee of the House approved two articles of impeachment against the current president and next week the full House will, undoubtedly, support the Committee’s recommendations.  The Republican controlled Senate will conduct a trial and the outcome will be a mystery to no one.  The president will be acquitted by a vote that will, probably, follow party lines.  Although this will be the third impeachment trial, no president has been found guilty.  Nixon resigned rather than face the possibility of being impeached.

Does acquittal mean that there is no guilt?  Absolutely not.  To reach a vote that would lead to the removal of the president, there would need to be 67 senators vote in favor of this to happen.  A very high bar to attain.  In reviewing the now famous phone call between the president and his counterpart in Ukraine, it is difficult for me to come to any conclusion other than a direct request was made by Trump.  Further, there has been enough evidence to support the fact that around $400 million in military aid was being held as leverage to persuade the Ukrainian president to do Trump’s bidding.  The words are there for all to read in the “perfect call”! The argument that, ultimately, Ukraine received the aid does not negate the substance of the words in the call.  Let me draw an analogy from the time I was a Juvenile Probation Officer in Indianapolis.  I recall a case I had where a young person had held a gun on someone to rob them and even though the gun was not real, the judge ruled that the person being robbed did not know this.  The act was the same as if the gun would have been real and loaded.  Not being real was not an excuse to absolve the young man from being responsible for putting the victim in fear.  How is this any different from what occurred in the interaction between Trump and Zelensky?   

In In reviewing the impeachment of the other three presidents there is an obvious difference in what the other three were charged with and the current articles of impeachment.  Briefly, in Andrew Johnson’s impeachment there were 11 Articles of Impeachment, but nine of the 11 dealt with the Violation of Tenure in Office Act.  This was an Act that was passed in 1867 to limit the president’s ability to remove individuals from office without senatorial approval.  He attempted to remove the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, and this led to the impeachment.  The vote in the senate sparred him from removal by one vote.  The vote was 35 guilty and 19 not guilty on each Article; therefore, the two-thirds majority was not reached.

There were three articles of impeachment brought by the House Judiciary Committee against President Richard Nixon; obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of congress.  Each of these articles revolved around the breaking into the Democratic Headquarters at Watergate and the subsequent cover up by members of the president’s staff and the president, himself.  He resigned from the office of president prior to the vote of the full house and the subsequent trial in the senate.

In the impeachment of President Bill Clinton there were four articles of impeachment created by the House Judiciary Committee, but only two were approved by the full House.  The first article dealt with the commission of perjury, including false and misleading testimony.  The second article focused on the obstruction of justice, specific to the case brought against him by Paula Jones.  The vote in the senate on the first article was defeated with 55 not guilty votes and 45 guilty votes.  On the second article the vote was evenly split 50-50.  Neither vote reach the two-thirds requirement.

In each of the other three instances where impeachment proceedings were brought against a president, the basis of the decisions revolved around domestic-related issues: Violating a politically motivated act of congress, breaking into a rival’s headquarters and covering it up, and lying about civil actions brought against the president.  In the current impeachment proceedings, the articles focus on the interaction with a foreign entity for the benefit of the sitting president.  Just on the face of it, the current action is much more egregious.  Not only was the call a source of specific information, but the failure to respond to subpoenas and denying access to staff comes quite close to the actions of Nixon.  The defiance of the president is without excuse, but quite consistent with the behavior we have witnessed since he took office. Resorting to name-calling and demeaning others has been his hallmark reaction to any situation that does not fit his preconceived notion of what should be.  His most recent admonition to the Democrats that the they have brought embarrassment to the country is just a bit misplaced.  No, Mr. President, it is you who has been an embarrassment to the country and to the office of the president.  It is you who has been the laughingstock of other world leaders, as was apparent at the most recent NATO meeting.

Does the end justify the means?

There seems to be a perplexing phenomenon happening in the country that has the potential to reshape the evangelical community.  Granted, there is a great deal of dissension, distrust and delirium throughout the country created by a myriad of issues.  Abortion, gun control, federal judge and Supreme Court appointments, immigration, climate change, environmental concerns, Trumpisms, Medicare for all, free college tuition, etc. etc. etc.  Yet, while each of these areas of concerns have adherents and opponents, there is nothing that seems to rise to the level of the impending impeachment of the president.  Further, embedded in the furor surrounding the impeachment process, is the support that the president continues to enjoy from the evangelical community.  A basic question surrounding this support is; how can those who espouse belief in the basic tenants of Christianity support a president who by his actions and words is the antithesis of those tenants.  Here is a man who has publicly bragged about grabbing women in the most private areas of their bodies, who utters disdain for anyone who is afflicted, who degrades those who have a different belief system (assuming he has a belief system), who is nothing short of an egotistical, self-serving, narcissistic, hedonistic individual. 

In reviewing brief biographies of each of the presidents who have preceded the current person sitting in that position, I have not found an equal to what our nation is currently experiencing.  Indeed, there have been issues with many of the previous presidents, including questionable behavior and actions, but in my judgment, nothing rises to the level of disrespect for the office of president as we are currently experiencing.  There have been those that have been either elected to the presidency or ascended to the position due to the death of the president who have brought dishonor to the office.  Most recently, we have the impeachments of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.  Nixon resigned before being impeached and Clinton was sparred by the vote in the Senate.  Only one other president, Andrew Johnson, came close, surviving by one vote in the Senate.  We are witnessing blatant disregard for long-standing precedents that presidents have followed throughout the history of the nation.  We have an individual who vacillates from truth to fiction as if there is nothing wrong with fabricating facts or as his counselor, Kellyanne Conway, noted, using “alternative facts”.   Indeed, other presidents have, no doubt, been guilty of embellishing or misleading or sharing limited information, but not just out and out lying from incident to incident.  In an interview, the president’s biographer, stated that he moves from lie to lie and does not seem to realize the difference between fact and fiction.

I have attempted to create the context that further exacerbates the above-mentioned phenomenon of the ongoing support of the evangelical community.  The results of a recent poll found that over 70 percent of white evangelicals who attend church regularly continue to support the president and will vote for him in the 2020 election.  The same poll found that 65 percent of white evangelicals who are not regular church goers continue to give their allegiance to the president. His behavior, actions and words, notwithstanding.  Recently, the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr. was quoted as stating that the president is a street fighter and that is what is needed by the Republican Party.  He went on to state that most Republicans in positions of power are wimps, unlike the pugilist in the White House.  A recent article in The Atlantic stated: “The enthusiastic, uncritical embrace of President Trump by white evangelicals is among the most mind-blowing developments of the Trump era.  How can a group that for decades—and especially during the Bill Clinton presidency—insisted that character counts and that personal integrity is an essential component of presidential leadership not only turn a blind eye to the ethical and moral transgressions of Donald Trump, but also constantly defend him?  Why are those who have been on the vanguard of “family values” so eager to give a man with a sordid personal and sexual history a mulligan? 

It seems obvious that for most of the evangelicals, the ends justify the means to that end.  How else can you explain how these Bible-believing Christians, “Love the Meanest Parts of Trump”, which is the headline in a November 3, 2019 article in The Atlantic magazine.  In the judgment of many, he fights for what they believe, and all his transgressions must be accepted because the ends justify the means. During the height of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s efforts to weed out communism in the country, I recall a slogan that was popular in some evangelical circles, “Kill a commie for Jesus”.  Yes, the end would justify the means.  To engage in such ruthless behavior would rid the country of the godless philosophical and political alien communistic orientation.  Eliminating a communist leaning person would be for the greater good, thus it would be deemed acceptable.  Scary, yes, but we are not far removed from that today.  To many evangelicals, Trump is God’s chosen person for these times.  It is he who has been chosen to fight the evils being perpetuated by the liberals and in doing so will save the country.  Dare we stand by and let this happen?