Can voters accept truth?

T. Harry Williams often shocked his class when he described Franklin Roosevelt as "the most dishonest politician."  Roosevelt lied to the American peoople when he said he was doing everything possible to  keep America out  of the war in Europe (I hate wah; Eleanor hates wah; Fala hates wah) while  he was trying to provoke Germany and take other actions to get the United States in the war.  Williams would then say he considered Roosevelt  a great president because the result saved the free world.

Williams also observed that Roosevelt had heard some place and was  convinced the America voter had the intelligence and knowledge of a 12-year-old, and he governed with that thought in mind. (That could explain why Roosevelt thought he could succeed in enacting laws that violated the constitution.) 

Yes, that's history, but do we not have dishonest politicians today?  Are we intelligent enough to see that something must be done to  save this nation?  How many people seeking office today believe they can be elected if they tell voters the truth?  Our country is deeply in debt but excessive spending goes on and the debt gets larger every day.  Many will say we should reduce spending but how many have the courage and honesty to show us how it is to be done?  So-called entitlements are head ed toward bankruptcy but every group getting  benefits says "cut spending but don't cut us."

I may be mistaken but it appears to me that Paul Ryan has come nearest to presenting the unwelcome  truth of our condition and has had the courage to recommend changes that would be painful and unpopular. Face it, there's no way this nation can be saved without pain.

Some family news

Wife Jen had a procedure done today and has slept most of the afternoon.  It will be early next week before she knows the results.

Saw the sonogram of my next grandchild this afternoon.  Is it not amazing that while no larger than a peanut, a fetus is very recognizable as a baby?

Appointments were supposed to be made for me with my cardiologist and an eye doctor.  I'll remind my primary physician Monday.

Potato or Potatoe

Joe Biden's penchant for gaffes is  treated gently by the media,  "that's just Joe," but his shouting out to an audience 50 per cent black that Republicans "want to put you  back in chains" has maybe overstepped the line even for him.  Just suppose a Republican had made a similar mistake while speaking.  Remember Dan Quayle?

Candidates for vice president are utilized in some silly ways and Quayle was called on to call out words in a spelling bee.  When a youngster spelled  potato Quayle, with a cue sheet with the word spelled potatoe, asked the student for the final letter.  The news  media, unfair as usual, treated this as a major failing of intellect and  kept this going unfairly even today..

Potato was spelled potatoe for years and can be found in publications as late as  June 1992.  There have been 64 variant spellings of potato.

While the campaign goes on and many speeches are made, there will be many misspeaks and gaffes.  They should not be given a lot of  importance unless a harmful remark is deliberately made.

Don't trim that rose bush -- there's a wasp nest

That was my wife warning me that wasps had built a nest at the top of a window above a rose bush. I have to admit I'm careful about wasps; I'm very allergic to the poison in their stings.

I was not always so allergic although of course any sting hurt and caused swelling.  I've been told I was just a toddler when I had my first adventure with a wasp.  I picked up a wasp I thought was dead and threatened my sister, who was less than two years older than I. While I chased her the wasp "stung me on my winger."

Everyone thought it was funny the first time both of my eyes swelled shut after I was stung and I  had to be led around. After that every time I was stung by a wasp or by a bee my face would swell so bad my eyes would be closed and I could not see for hours or days. I learned a wasp can fly faster than I can run when one chased me down and stung me on the temple.

Yes, I agree that wasps are a helpful insect in some ways and I am agreeable to leave them  alone if they will stay away from me. Years ago I went to call on a man and knocked on what I took to be his front door. He came out another door and said "we aren't using this door," and he pointed to a nest almost the size of a saucer covered with hundreds of red wasps.  I shiver when I remember and think how close I  may have come to death.

Today is 67th anniversary of VJ Day

I wrote about my activities on this day extensively two years ago and again last year so I plan to be briefer today. The USS Pickens was in San Francisco taking aboard troops to invade Japan. I had left the ship on a rare liberty (I had been standing double watches because some had leave) and entered a restaurant where I was seated at a table with strangers.  The restaurant let me in but shut the doors and closed.

Excitement was in the air as rumors floated that Japan could be surrendering.  President Truman confirmed that Japanese leaders had agreed to surrender terms. Streets and sidewalks quickly filled with people going wild in their celebrations.  A girl grabbed my hat and ran; I had to chase her down to get it back because the shore patrol was eagerly arresting sailors for being out of uniform.  As people got more and more exuberant I could not share their excitement.  I had been spared from invading Japan and likely losing my life but I had sort of a let-down feeling; the occasion was too important to celebrate the way it was being done.  I left and returned to the ship.  A few days later we headed for Japan.

I visited the doctor

Visited my primary physician today.  Gave a little blood for lab work.  Appointments will be made with an eye doctor and with a cardiologist.  Went to Brookshire's to pick up medicine and was painfully out of breath just from walking from the front of the store to the pharmacy and back to my car.

They forgot or decided not to give me the test for dementia; lucky for me because I feel like I would have failed it.  Tomorrow is another day and I expect to feel better.  After all, I must celebrate VJ Day. It saved me from invading Japan but as I have said many times the excitement caused me to forget my 19th birthday.

Church 50th Anniversary Celebrated

We celebrated  the 50th anniversary of Christ United Methodist Church with an open house Saturday and church services Sunday morning. Twenty-five charter members were in the congregation, seven of  whom are still members.  Former pastors and their families were recognized, including Mrs. Oscar Cloyd, wife of the first pastor.  The observance concluded with lunch being served to more than 400.

As I look back over my many years of attending church special observances, I can't recall whether all were reunions or any marked a particular anniversary.  One that will always be in my memory, though faint, because I was about six at the time, was  when the Lowe families had a reunion in keeping with a special celebration at Bethlehem Methodist Church.

The church building also served as a school which my dad attended in his early years.  He was able to show me his initials carved into the back of a pew.  His cousin was the only teacher for the school.

I can almost see the piano player, a short chubby man, as he pounded on the keys.  I heard for the first time the hymn "Life's evening sun is sinking low; a few more days and I must go."  Every time I hear that song I remember that reunion and that church.  (The actual title of the song is "A Beautiful Life."