Brain Trust

The idea of a Brain Trust to help a preferred candidate: in my case Amy or secondarily, Mayor Pete, gets its tradition from FDR.  It was a term coined by James Kieran, a New York Times reporter, referring to a group of academic advisers that FDR gathered to assist him during the 1932 presidential campaign. Initially, the term applied to three Columbia University professors: Raymond Moley, Rexford Guy Tugwell, and Adolph A. Berle, Jr. Within a few months, Basil ("Doc") O'Connor, Samuel I. Rosenman, and Hugh Johnson would join the group. These men would quickly help FDR develop an economic plan whose programs became the backbone of the New Deal: regulation of bank and stock activity, large scale relief, and public works programs for people living in both urban and rural areas.

Why would I want a Brain Trust right now?  It will MAKE NEWS.  It will make my preferred candidate more interesting to those who so far dismiss him or her.  Especially in the case of Mayor Pete, one of the major criticisms facing him is that he lacks enough experience, and that he does not resonate with African American voters.    But wonder if he had people in his Brain Trust who helped him make up those deficits?  I don't mean a huge group of people...The FDR Brain Trust started out with three men.  Three more were added.  Six people in all.  They helped set the agenda for the New Deal.  We are in a similar state - that is we are a country are in crisis -  Environmental, haves and have nots, health insurance,  immigration, moral standing of the U.S.,   the move of the country toward autocratic government,  WHAT ELSE?

My question to you is WHO would you select for a presidential candidate Brain Trust: may be different list for Amy and for Pete.   They have different deficits??  So - as you suggest names, say which deficit the individual is filling.  A total of six names for each candidate, ...

The suggestion has been given to me by daughter, Malia, that I use this blog as a way of communicating the news of the day that I have been posting on Facebook.  In that way, we can have conversations about what I post.  I have not used this blog as a posting site since 2017.  We shall see if it works for "having conversations about local and international news."   So this particular post is an experiment.  Hello everyone.  Welcome to my blog!   

Climbing Trees

At the age of 12 the thing I loved to do most was climb a tree in a nearby park.  

I would place my shoes at the base of the tree’s trunk.

Up I would go, bare feet  against rough branches

Never looking down.

Tilting my head toward the tree top

Where the leaves would flash with light,

Moving with the breeze,

I would find a fork of branches

Big enough to sit in.

Knees up under my chin

Toes digging into the bark

I looked out on the world of tree tops

And the birds who found easy perches there.

Sometimes I would bring a book

And read on a swaying branch.

One day a park policeman saw my shoes at the base of the tree and looked up.

“Hey, little girl, come down from there.  You are not allowed up there.”

He waited.

I climbed down.

“Don’t do that again,” he admonished

I slipped on my shoes,

Those shoes, whose presence had given me away,

And left my tree, left the park,

Walked quickly, embarrassed to having been found,

Never turning around to see if he was following me.

At age 70,

When all other thoughts are exhausted,

I dream again of climbing trees.

I always have been so busy

Doing this and that.

I’ve had no time to stop and look for a tree to climb,

Or follow the passage of ants as they scurry up the  their trail of bark,

Or  find a bird’s nest balanced on a high branch..

Now

I take off my shoes,

Curl my arms around the trunk

Reach up,  

Think about

Sitting up top for a while,  

Without speech.

It would be enough just to be up there

Swaying,

And not come down for anyone

But you.

Autumn Leaves

Wet leaves make mats on the grass

I saw someone walk by yesterday, before the rain

She held a big bag

Every once in awhile she stooped to pick up a fallen leaf

The bag was about ⅓ full

A lot of leaves!  

How did she choose from the thousands that were there for the picking?

I wonder what she is going to do with all the leaves she has selected

I mean to look it up

Must be an art project of some sort

It would be posted somewhere

But then there would be no mystery

I like to think of the leaves calling out

“Pick me, I’m beautiful.”

And she walking by, gratifies a few

By making them the chosen ones.

From the Balcony of the Ingram Hacienda

Rosemary Du Mont

The pre-dawn horizon is bright and clear

I look down at  

Boats floating like islands, mirrored in the still water

There are mountains at the water’s edge

That  look like a row of dark jagged buildings

Whose reflections serve the sea as hanging gardens

A quarter moon-shaped dark rock protrudes from the depths

I am told that it is filled with pelicans

I can only imagine, for I cannot see them on land

But I see them soaring in the limitless sky

A dozen birds scatter and return to their island home below

They startle my heart

Now comes the sun, out of the low hanging mist

A flush of white cloud and red cloud dawning from behind a mountain peak

Soon the air is ablaze with all shades of red and orange

Brilliant tumbling cloud  fragments

I am drowning in the sky

While worldly matters may take their turn,

Ancient, modern, to and fro,

The sea, the mountains, the sunrise,  have no ending time

Changeless in their glory.

America's Highest Ideals

The highest ideals of what America stands for were on full display last evening, as an estimate 800 people gathered at The Islamic Society of Frederick, to show solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters, in light of the Muslim ban put into place by the President’s executive order.  It was a joyous affair - Old friends found each other and hugged  in the midst of the crowd - New friends were made as we stamped our feet in the cold air and waved and clapped at people driving by.  Those drivers became part of us too, as  they honked in solidarity with us, as we waved our posters and shouted our greetings from the curb.  It was, in addition,  a solemn affair.  “Never again,” said one woman to me, as she displayed the Star of David on her coat, the word “Jude,” emblazoned in the center.  An historic symbol of Nazi oppression, this star was overpowered by all the posters expressing love and hope.  “We are all Muslims today,” said one poster.  “Stronger together,” said another.  

All of us walked together, young and old, kids sitting on the shoulders of their parents, a few  supported by walkers, all bundled up in the frigid air.  We walked from the mosque down to Route 40, waving our banners, and shouting: “What does democracy look like? THIS is what democracy looks like.”  I had heard this same shout-out  at the Women’s March to Washington the week before.  This shout-out is the rallying cry for many now.  We tried singing.  Not so good.  We do not seem to have a song yet that expresses everything we are and trying to do.  We need that - something simple, something catchy, that can pull us together.  Hear that, composers out there?  We tried, singing America the Beautiful and This Land is Your Land, after we returned to the mosque.  A large American flag, held by one of the marchers,  flew straight out in the wind.  It was a stirring moment, even though some of us stumbled through the songs, not knowing all the words.

People spoke to us: our political leaders (thank you Congressman Delaney for coming and speaking - for just being there); the organizers of the march spoke, saying how they felt they had to “do something” to show that love indeed could overcome hate, and this march was the result.    The iman of the mosque prayed with us, and then spoke of his grateful amazement that so many had showed up to show support for him and his community of believers.  Members of the mosque community were spread throughout the crowd.  One young Muslim woman hugged my husband and thanked us for being there.  

Why not?   We breathe the same air, use the same roads and bridges, depend on the same institutions;  we  must find ways to live together with kindness and empathy for the sake of our children and grandchildren.  That’s why I was there, inspired by everyone else who came, in joy and determination, to keep the love of neighbor alive.  

Good News #1

As part of my preparation for Lent, which starts in March, I promised a faith sharing group to which I belong, that I would find good news to report each and every week, until Easter. Here is my first such list. I am posting each list on Facebook but want to keep a running record of the lists here.

1. Last week's Uber protest actually worked. In response to the President's immigration order, the Uber CEO has dropped off of Trump's business advisory council. In a related move, Lyft pledged $1 million to the ACLU over four years to help defend the Constitution.

2. Hunters and Eco-Activists united against a federal land grab. Following massive uproar, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz withdrew his bill for an immediate sale of 3.3 million acres of public land in 10 states.

3. Nearly 1000 State Department employees officially dissented on Trump's immigration order by using the Dissent Channel at the State Department; saying that the immigration order runs counter to American values.

4. Since Inauguration Day 2,200 progressives have decided to run for some political office. The Run for Something group says it has signed up that many candidates, with 1,000 joining over the past weekend.

5. A federal judge in Los Angeles has added another legal ruling against Trump's Muslim travel ban, issuing an emergency order that forbids government officials from enforcing many of the new rules.

6. New York Times subscription growth has soared more than ten fold since Trump has taken office.

7. And locally, the predominantly Democratic Maryland House of Delegates voted to override the Republican governor's veto of a bill calling for stronger renewable energy standards.