Tuesday, June 23. Here are topics for this week's blog: some satire about presidential candidates; climate change; Charleston's sorrow; political translations; Middle East map; small venue production; much ado about a new coin; summer's arrival in CO.

P. J. O'Rourke.  In his recent column, the satirist comments on the less than sterling nature of the  candidates now in the race for the November prize. He quotes an earlier writer, a kindred spirit, H. L. Mencken, who famously said, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” Perhaps so. O'Rourke then goes on to comment on Donald Trump's being a part of this long the parade.
     If the current collection of candidates is the best America has to offer, the Republic may be imperiled.

The Vatican Priest.... This from a recent article in the Daily Beast. Brings to mind the lyrics from the Sonny James ("He's everywhere") and Paul Simon ("Me and Julio down by the school yard").  One can only hope that "the Vatican Priest" brings more to this cause than he has to priestly pedophilia.

ROME—It almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but on Thursday a Catholic cardinal, an Orthodox theologian and an atheist scientist will walk into the Vatican synod hall and present Pope Francis’s hotly anticipated encyclical on the environment.  The hype around the document has been so fevered that it even spawned a silly spoof movie trailer in which the super pope fights an epic battle to save the planet.  And the Vatican City state secrecy that surrounded it only increased the drama.

     The papal encyclical numbers six chapters and two new papal prayers dedicated to “the communal home that is planet earth.” The article continued, saying the "leak .... was clearly an “act of sabotage” against popular Pope Francis by his enemies." Judy Woodruff's interview (PBS, June 18) with Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., provides a good summation of Francis's thoughts. 
      America's politicians, take heart, even His Holiness has political enemies. Jeb B, for one, weighed in, commenting that he (a practicing Catholic) went to church for spiritual guidance, not public policy pronouncements. Jeb is, I fear, one of those with his head in the sand, even as the rising waters along FL's coasts wash away his sand. Does he not realize that he would face the same challenges in the "not-too-high White House? Oh, of course, he can retreat uphill to Camp David.

Charleston (SC) church shooting. Just as the Aurora (CO) theater-shooting trial winds down, Thursday's (18th) sad news of the deaths of nine congregants at a church. Much will be written and said about the motives of the young male perpetrator. For what it's worth, here are a few of my thoughts.
     I think it is increasing clear that many off-center Americans are becoming increasingly fearful of losing their imagined positions of social and political dominance, no matter how low they actually rank in their community's social hierarchy. Morris Dees, a founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, discusses the concept of "white genocide" in a New York Times op-ed.  Dees asserts that the ideas espoused by Dylan Roof, the alleged (?) perpetrator of the violence in Charleston, are "popular among white supremacists in the United States, [and] also signs of the growing globalization of white nationalism....Unlike those of the civil rights era, whose main goal was to maintain Jim Crow in the American South, today’s white supremacists don’t see borders; they see a white tribe under attack by people of color across the globe."
     The need to feel superior was, after all, one of the historical motivations for white suppression of blacks before, during, and after the Civil War. Reconstruction's Jim Crow system was merely a continuation of that belief/social system. Blacks were not alone in being "kept down." Hispanics, Native Americans, all minority groups were similarly disadvantaged. 
     The woeful under-education promoted in segregated, inferior schools was a virtual guarantee that whites, no matter their social status, could feel superior. If the imagined privileged position of you or your group is suddenly threatened, some will strike out in anger. Why else would you wear a jacket with the flags of two former, dreadful apartheid nations, South Africa and Rhodesia?
     "Ye reap what you sow." Job 4:8

"Cruz, Paul and Rubio Make Their Case to the Faithful." This was the headline of story of a recent Roll Call article. One wonders, just who are "the faithful," and what happens if there are not enough of them to get you elected? Do you stand steady, face to the wind, or do you alter/dilute your message as necessary? Pander to the audience? Heaven forbid! Perish the thought!  You can, of course, change the above names depending on the political race, the forum involved, and/or the current hot button issue.

What's in a map? A recent column by Charles Krauthammer began, "It’s time for a new strategy in Iraq and Syria. It begins by admitting that the old borders are gone, that a unified Syria or Iraq will never be reconstituted, that the Sykes-Picot map is defunct." The treaty (formally, the Asia Minor Agreement) was signed May 9, 1916, in the heat of WW I with the impending collapse of the Ottoman Empire looming large. As noted by a colleague who follows the Middle East, the public has little understanding of the complex and convoluted tribal/sectarian/clan structure of this vast area. I strongly suspect that the diplomats who negotiated those borders were similarly clueless and/or unable to formally structure nations around these complexities. Even is today's diplomats appreciate the region's complexity, it is quite another thing to secure a new arrangement that  can be recognized and used by all concerned.
     There has been much discussion about the wisdom "nation building," but redrawing national boundaries is quite another matter.

Small venue theater. "Unmarried in America" is now playing at the Vintage Theater in Aurora, CO. Another good production in a small theater where the audience is not quite on the stage. The performance was well done, reflecting the current status and uncertainties of gays, lesbians, and straights in today's America. I could not help but wonder about the Supreme Court's impending decision on same sex marriage. At intermission, a colleague commented that the phrase "same gender marriage" seemed more appropriate, a better description of this still contentious, grey area.

The new 2 € and the Little Corproal . On June 18th, Europe celebrated the 200th anniversary of Waterloo, the momentous battle that transformed world politics. Some nations celebrated more than others. Belgium issued a new 2€ coin, to which France took great exception. For their part, the Belgians proclaimed that they could not understand France's reaction. Some aspects of history die hard.
     Amid the current crisis involving the huge influx of refugees into Europe, it might do well to remember that Napoleon was a Corsican immigrant and political refugee. Is this perhaps one of the reasons Frenchman do not hold the "Little Corporal" in high esteem?

Summer heat. The all too frequent monsoon rains have slackened and the dry heat of summer seems to be taking over. Even at 92+ our low humidity means sitting in the shade is not overly tiring.

I wish you a week of calming repose and reflection. Thanks for reading.