Tales of the Tarantula

by Frank Terranella

  The Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, says that although she believes the women who are making accusations of sexual misdeeds against Moore, she will still vote for him. Why? Because she feels that his vote is needed in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans now are clinging to a tiny, two-seat majority. And why is a Republican majority so important? Because there’s a tax bill pending there. The bill is so repugnant to Democrats that not a single Democrat will vote for it. According to them, the main purpose of the bill is to lower the taxes on corporations and to repeal the estate tax. The Republicans need just about every vote to get this thing passed.

  So in order to put money into the pockets of corporate shareholders and heirs of multi-millionaires, the female Governor of Alabama will vote for a man she feels has preyed on other women. Even if you believe that the tax bill will put money into the pockets of the middle class, can there be any doubt that money is at the root of electing an evil man to the U.S. Senate?

  This is where the radical capitalism we have embraced in the last 30 years has gotten us. There is absolutely nothing that is more important in this country now than making money. The companies that make money must be protected at all cost from anything that might reduce profits, like safety regulations. And the people who make a lot of money must not be burdened with taxes that might get in the way of their investment portfolios.

  Capitalism is a fine economic system. But unregulated, extreme capitalism is as much a danger to the nation as communism ever was. When we are willing to turn our backs on morality and turn a blind eye to wrongdoing to protect and elect a candidate just to make more money, the system is broken.

  Many people are hailing the newfound attention to sexual harassment as a watershed. I am not so sure. It seems to me that allegations of sexual harassment are just being used by politicians on both sides to knock off members of the other party. While I think it’s a good thing that men who act this way get punished, so far I have not seen actual punishment. And what’s worse, I have seen no understanding among men of the seriousness of the issue. It’s merely a “gotcha” tool to take down someone you dislike. And men complain that women are changing the rules.

  I will not believe that we have reached a turning point in stamping out sexual harassment until people of both parties equally condemn politicians who prey on women. It’s heartening that people like Mitt Romney are taking a stand for morality. Certainly evangelicals have not. The so-called Moral Majority has shown moral bankruptcy on this issue. All they seem to care about is electing judges. They will bargain with the devil to get their man on the court.

  George Washington was opposed to political parties just for this reason. He knew that people would put party above country. And our history has been replete with examples. The election of Donald Trump is just the latest chapter. But I have faith in the basic humanity and goodness of the American people. I have faith that they will ultimately see that working for the common good is the only way forward. And that common good begins with respect for half the population.

  Sexual predators should not be allowed to wield power in this country. It’s a basic principle that people of both parties must profess like the Pledge of Allegiance. This should be common ground for both liberals and conservatives who these days cannot seem to agree on anything.

  In another extremely fractious time in American history, Abraham Lincoln ended his First Inaugural Address with words that are as relevant today as they were then: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

  The “better angels of our nature” counsel all of us, both liberals and conservatives, to take the problem of sexual harassment in this country seriously. It should not be used for partisan advantage. It is an evil that must be cleansed from every corner of our lives. It’s a cause we can and must come together to fight. That’s the only way we can win.

  Remembering

  John Lennon on the anniversary of his death

  December 2017

  December 8 has become a very special day for me. It’s the day I remember the death of John Lennon. It was way back in 1980, but I remember the night distinctly.

  I was walking toward the Columbus Circle subway station to catch the A train the night of December 8, 1980, when the sound of sirens caught my attention. I turned to see an ambulance turn down the block toward nearby Roosevelt Hospital. Now there are ambulances in the streets of New York all day every day. But this one was different, because it was accompanied by several police cars. By the time I got off the train, the news had reached radio – John Lennon had died at Roosevelt Hospital of gunshot wounds he had suffered at hand of Mark Chapman at The Dakota, the famous building on Central Park West where he lived.

  A month later, Lennon’s song “Woman” was released. Lennon apparently thought of it as a more mature version of his Beatles song “Girl.” But the song was certainly dedicated to his wife, Yoko Ono. It begins with John speaking the words “For the other half of the sky,” a reference to a Chinese proverb referencing women. And then Lennon’s guitar introduces a beautiful melody to which John sang these heartfelt lyrics:

  Woman, I can hardly express,

  My mixed emotion at my thoughtlessness,

  After all I’m forever in your debt,

  And woman, I will try to express,

  My inner feelings and thankfulness,

  For showing me the meaning of success,

  Woman, I know you understand

  The little child inside the man,

  Please remember my life is in your hands,

  And, woman, hold me close to your heart,

  However distant don’t keep us apart,

  After all it is written in the stars,

  Woman, please let me explain,

  I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain,

  So let me tell you again and again and again,

  I love you (yeah, yeah) now and forever.

  These words seem particularly timely all these years later, as our country experiences a long-overdue awareness of the harm men have perpetrated on women over the years. Frankly, it makes me ashamed to be male. But I think John Lennon would approve of the gains we have made in righting old wrongs against women and would encourage us to do more.

  To all women, particularly on behalf of the men of my generation, I echo the words of John Lennon: “Woman, please let me explain, I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain.” Lennon invited us to “imagine a world with all the people living life in peace.” That means both halves of the sky. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. John Lennon was the dream master.

  The consent of the governed – A closer look

  December 2017

  Earlier this year I wrote that a government that does not have “the consent of the governed” is doomed to failure or, even worse, to fascism and tyranny to protect itself and accomplish its agenda.

  In this year, we have seen the truth of this play out again and again. We now have a President who makes no pretense about it: He wants to be the president of only the minority of Americans who voted for him. And that is why this government will fail.

  Example No. 1: Currently, 56% of the public approves of the Obamacare health insurance law, while 38% disapproves, according to a national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 4, 2017. Yet the Trump Administration has done everything it can to undermine the law, aided and abetted by a Republican Congress that has tried repeatedly to scrap the law. The Administration has cut advertising to tell people how to sign up and is trying to cut subsidies that allow our poorest citizens to buy health insurance. They have even cut the sign-up period in half in a further attempt to kill the health plan fav
ored by a majority of Americans.

  Example No. 2: According to Pew Research, solid majorities of both gun owners and non-owners favor limiting access to guns for people with mental illnesses and individuals who are on the federal no-fly or watch lists (82% or higher favor among each group). In addition, strong majorities favor background checks for private sales and at gun shows (77% among gun owners and 87% among non-owners). Yet, five years after the horrific loss of 20 little children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, no gun control law has cleared Congress and the Trump Administration opposes gun-free school zones. Trump’s only significant action on guns as president has been to sign a law rolling-back Obama-era limitations on the ability of those being treated for mental illness to purchase firearms.

  Example No. 3: According to a Monmouth University poll released September 21, 2017, more Americans continue to oppose (62%) than favor (35%) building a wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. Yet the President seems completely unfazed by popular sentiment. A majority of all respondents, 76 percent, told Monmouth that undocumented immigrants who have worked in the U.S. for at least two years should have a path to citizenship. Trump says he opposes any such plan, which he derides as “amnesty,” a purer version of which was employed by no less than Republican icon Ronald Reagan to great success.

  Example No. 4: In a recent Pew Research poll, about a quarter of U.S. adults (24%) say tax rates on corporations and large businesses should be lowered, while roughly twice as many (52%) say they should be raised. Another 21% say corporate tax rates should be kept the same as they are now. Yet the Trump Administration, aided by a Republican-controlled Congress, aims to lower the federal tax rate on corporations from 35% to 21%.

  Example No. 5: According to a poll released this week by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation, an overwhelming majority of Americans favor retaining the current rules regarding net neutrality. These are rules that say that an internet service provider cannot charge one website more money than another for carrying its content to consumers. The survey found that 83 percent overall favored keeping the current FCC net neutrality rules, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents. Yet, the Trump Administration supported the Federal Communication Commission’s decision to remove the Obama-era rules that required ISPs to treat all internet traffic the same. Trump called these rules an “overreach” and vowed to repeal them. And his FCC appointee, Ajit Pai, orchestrated that for him just this week.

  These are only a small sampling of the many ways in which Trump and the Republican Congress has thumbed its nose at the will of the majority. While candidates have taken extreme positions in the past, presidents have traditionally tried to adopt middle courses once they got elected. They have tried to be the president of all the people. Trump is different. He is fine being the president of a minority of voters, and so far our electoral college system and gerrymandered election districts have allowed him to do that.

  Eventually, we must return to government with the consent of the governed if we are to return to our status as the model democratic government in the world. I am optimistic we will get there. The election this week of Doug Jones in Alabama, coming on the heels of Democratic Party victories in Virginia and New Jersey, may signal the end of a complicit Republican-controlled Congress in 2018.

  As this first year of the Trump presidency comes to a close, I look forward to 2018, when we can truly “Make America Great Again.”

  A Christmas gem you might have missed

  December 2017

  Longtime readers of this blog will remember that I have often spoken of my love of Christmas movies as a guilty pleasure I engage in at the end of every year. And while the many holiday flicks produced by Hallmark or Netflix can keep me busy all season, there are some classics that I return to every year.

  An example is White Christmas, the 1954 classic starring Bing Crosby. The Irving Berlin songs set a high bar for all other Christmas musicals. Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen dance wonderfully to “The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing.” Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney enjoy a midnight snack together while singing the beautiful “Count Your Blessings.” This movie is a sure fix for the holiday blues.

  But there is another great Christmas film that for some reason has not been seen on American television in decades. It was made by NBC in 1986 and has an all-star cast including Loretta Young, Trevor Howard, Arthur Hill and Ron Liebman. The film is called Christmas Eve.

  Loretta Young stars as Amanda Kingsley, the widow of a wealthy industrialist. She has a son played by Arthur Hill who is exasperated by his mother’s penchant for charity. In particular, his mother goes out at night in New York City with her loyal English butler, Maitland, played to perfection by Trevor Howard. The two seek out and care for the homeless. The widow’s son Andrew, played by Arthur Hill, sees this as a waste of his father’s money (and his inheritance). So he plots to have his mother declared incompetent a week before Christmas to take control of her finances.

  We then find out that Andrew’s three adult children (played by Patrick Cassidy, Wayne Best and Season Hubley) have not talked to Andrew in many years. They have fled to various parts of the country and neither Andrew nor his mother knows where they are. When Mrs. Kingsley gets some bad news from her doctor, she hires a private detective (Ron Liebman) to find her grandchildren and invite them to come home for Christmas Eve. She doesn’t tell Liebman about her health issue.

  The plot of the film concerns Liebman’s efforts to not only find Mrs. Kingsley’s grandchildren, but convince them to come home for Christmas. Along the way Amanda Kingsley and her son Andrew reconcile their differences in time for Christmas. So I promise you a happy ending.

  It’s a wonderful Christmas story made superb by the top-notch performances of some veteran actors. But for some reason, NBC never issued a DVD of the film, which was Loretta Young’s penultimate film appearance and Arthur Hill’s last film. There is a VHS version of the film, but it is long out-of-print, although a used copy might be available online. Fortunately, someone was good enough to ignore NBC’s copyright and put the entire film on YouTube. Ah, 21st century technology! I am happy to say that as of this writing you can still see it there. Just search for “Christmas Eve Loretta Young.”

  Happy viewing, and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season.

  Remembering life

  with father

  December 2017

  New Year’s Eve has been a bittersweet day for me these last 50 years. You see, my father died on the last day of 1967. He had just turned 49, a victim of ALS, one of those muscular dystrophy diseases that (even back then) Jerry Lewis was raising money every Labor Day to fight.

  My father was named Angelo after his grandfather. He was born and died in the same house on Church Street in Lodi, New Jersey. Except for the years he spent in the Army during World War II as a hospital orderly, he lived his entire life there. That was very rare, even 50 years ago.

  My father was awarded a Purple Heart in World War II. However, he wasn’t injured on the battlefield. His injury came in the mental ward of a military hospital where he was working. My father was bringing a patient a meal on a metal tray and the deranged GI threw it back in his face, knocking out his front teeth. So my father was able to amuse us by taking out his false teeth.

  One of my earliest memories of my father is when my mother was in the hospital after giving birth to my brother. My dad was not a cook, and so dinner that night was hot dogs at Panama’s on Main Street in Lodi. I remember that he let me do something special. I always wanted to play the jukebox whenever I saw one and my parents would rarely indulge me. But this night my dad gave me a quarter and I got to play three songs on the jukebox. I was in heaven.

  I remember my father enjoying a day at the racetrack once in a while. He didn’t go often, but when he went, he really went all out. It was not unusual for this man of modest means to save up money and then plac
e some big bets at the track. I remember him saying, “Let’s make it interesting” as we headed for the $50 window. But that was a rare indulgence. He was normally very conservative about finances. In fact, he never owned a credit card in his life. Hell, he didn’t even have a checking account. He paid cash. Our vacations were more often than not just to the Jersey shore or to Lake Hopatcong, where my grandfather had a lakefront house.

  My dad holding my brother John with me in front

  My father was a lifelong Yankees fan. One of my favorite memories is when he took me to Yankee Stadium for the first time. Billy Crystal has talked about the moment kids of that era first saw the bright colors of the ballpark. At home, we had never seen it in anything but black and white. Walking into the ballpark for me in 1960 was like when Dorothy opens the door of her house and walks out into Oz. The vivid green of the outfield and the brown of the infield were a visual sensation. We saw the Yankees beat the Tigers that day complete with a home run by Mickey Mantle. I was hooked for life.

  Angelo was working as a mailman when the symptoms of ALS appeared. He enjoyed that job because he got to be outside. He always preferred that. It reminded him of his youth as a caddy. Now instead of a golf bag, he was carrying a mailbag. And he delivered mail to our house, so we always got to see him during the day in the summer. We would watch for him approaching and run to greet him. Sometimes he would let us put the mail in a neighbor’s mailbox. That always made us feel important.

  I was just 14 when my father died. Obviously it had a great effect on me and my life. But as I look back on the past 50 years, I think my dad would be happy with the way things turned out. He would be especially happy with my children and grandchildren. They say that “only the good die young” and my father is evidence for that. He was a good man who we remember fondly half a century after his passing.