Legacy                                                  #329

By Hank Silverberg

This summer there will be events around the country commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States. They won't be as big as the bicentennial celebration in 1976 with tall ships and fireworks and parades and much more, which a large portion of our population can still remember. But we will hear a lot again this summer about our Founding Fathers, the Constitution and history. 

As I spent some time this weekend with my grand- children, it made me wonder with all that's going on in the world and in Washington, D.C. right now, what things might be like in the United States for the Tricentennial, 50 years from now.  I won't be here, but my grandchildren will be.

In 1976 there were speeches and events to highlight the progress we had made since the Revolution. We weren't perfect, we knew, but we had come a long way towards racial and social equality and were moving in the right direction. We were the envy of the world. The United States of America stood for something. 

Oh, we had problems. Too many people were homeless, too many went hungry, too many were out of work. Race played too much of a role in how we saw ourselves. But the spirit of '76 was still with us.

We helped our neighbors and allies, we were steadfast in our defense of freedom and promotion of good will, even after the political trauma of Watergate and the dissent and violence over Vietnam. We were, after all, despite our differences, one people, strengthened greatly by our diversity.

Those of us who were young back then saw hope in the future. We felt a strong country that with the right leaders, could  produce a better world where poverty and disease could be ended, and where national borders had more of an historical significance than as a barrier to free trade and free travel. We were still carrying John F. Kennedy's torch, and it was moving slowly toward Mr. Lincoln's "Better Angels".  

But today, as I watch Donald Trump and Elon Musk dismantle our government, alienate long-term allies and ignore the meaning of our Constitution and the ideas behind our laws, I really wonder if this nation can survive until 2076.

My younger daughter, who is now a teacher, after the study of  history and ancient civilizations, posted an interesting question online this past week. 

"Is this how the fall of Rome began?"

Historians will note Rome did not fall fast. It took  several hundred years before the most powerful empire the world had ever known withered away because of poor, corrupt leadership. 

I hope they still teach real history in 2076, and not some revisionist version which we are already seeing in small samples right now both here in the United States and elsewhere. I hope when students learn American history in 2076 the current crises will appear as a small blip on the radar screen of the United States--an anomaly that was quickly corrected. 

Otherwise, the last 250 years of American ideals  will have been wasted.   

News You May Have Missed 

Ships Redeployed to Defend Our
Southern Border?

Here is something that has gone pretty much unnoticed by the American public. The United States is redeploying some of our Navy ships to defend our southern border, though from what it is not clear. 

(USS Spruance leaving San Diego
 courtesy US Navy) 

The USS Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, has been sent from its home port in San Diego on a mission to "restore territorial integrity," according to the U.S. Northern Command. It will be accompanied by a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment to "counter piracy, counter terrorism, anti-immigration and combat missions." Preventing drug smuggling was also listed as part of the mission. 

A second ship, the USS Gravely, has been deployed in the Gulf of Mexico on the same mission. That's a lot of firepower for a problem that may be exaggerated. 

Both ships had previously been patrolling the Red Sea, protecting commercial shipping from pirates and missiles launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/another-us-navy-destroyer-that-fought-off-missiles-in-the-red-sea-has-been-sent-to-guard-americas-southern-border/ar-AA1BuxvC?ocid=BingNewsBrowse

Under The Ice

Just what is under the polar ice caps? Scientists got a rare opportunity earlier this year to find out. An international team aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel were in the Antarctic when a huge iceberg about as big as Chicago broke

(Iceberg remnants, Alex Ingle/Schmidt
 Ocean Institute)

away from the George VI ice shelf. It gave them the rare opportunity to study that part of the ocean. 

The scientists found an abundance of giant sea spiders, ice fish and octopuses in the sea depths, which based on their size, may have been there for decades or more. This part of the ocean has never been accessible to humans before. The broken off ice exposed 196 square miles of the sea floor, which was then explored by the Institute's remotely operated vehicle. It was down there for eight days at depths of  4,265 feet.

What makes the life in this area unique is that sea floor dwellers usually rely on nutrients from the surface slowly raining down on the seafloor. But this Antarctic ecosystem was completely cut off from surface nutrients by 492 feet of thick ice. So this is a chance to study something completely new. The team is international, with scientists from Chile, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and the U.S.       

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/scientists-were-in-antarctica-when-a-giant-iceberg-broke-free-here-s-what-they-found-in-its-shadow/ar-AA1BtQRR?ocid=BingNewsBrowse

Dumbest Quote of The week! 

This week's dumb quote comes from Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, and it's a doozy. He was asked in an interview about the future of Social Security and the loud complaints by the public over any possible cuts. He said it would be the people committing fraud who would yell the loudest. 

“Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She'd think something got messed up, and she'll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.” 

Of course his mother is not going to complain. Her son is a billionaire who can help take care of her.   

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with most members of the Trump Cabinet, Musk and the President himself. They just don't get it. There are 70 million people on Social Security, and most of them are elderly on a very fixed income. Many of them would not be able to pay the bills or eat without their monthly Social Security check.  Millions more younger folks have expected Social Security in their retirement planning. 

NOTE TO CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE:

Social Security is NOT a handout.  It is an insurance policy which we all paid into with a premium for our entire working life. Now we are collecting the insurance PROMISED by the United States of America. If there is any one issue that will take down the Trump government and unite MAGAS with the rest of the country,  messing with Social Security is that issue.

 (My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:  HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)                       

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796

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