Joe Awards Some Medals

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Joe Biden seems to corrupt, if not destroy, everything he touches. However, with the recent announcement of Presidential Medal of Freedom awardees he might have done some good.

I don’t care for the Medal of Freedom program. The basic concept is good, to recognize “an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavor. However, the execution thereof has become somewhat comical.

Take a look at some of the past awardees. Barack Obama awarded 118 medals, more than any other president, and to such “notables” as Jean Kennedy Smith and Angela Merkel, who has reminded the world that while you can take the girl out of East Germany you can’t take East Germany out of the girl. There was also one for Marlo Thomas, no doubt for having to put up with Phil Donahue for all those years. The real shrieker was the one for Joe Biden. In fairness, there were some strange ones for Republicans as well. Can anyone give a reason for Trump picking Devin Nunes?

So, what was originally a good idea, to recognize truly exceptional people who have had an extraordinary impact on the country and the world, has now come perilously close to something between a political gesture and a participation trophy.

So let’s turn to Joe Biden and his prior picks.

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New Year’s in San Salvador

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This was an amazing thing to see. Salvadorans seem happy and optimistic. A few years ago it was like: Don’t go to this place; don’t go to that place; you can go to this tourist place, it’s safe. Everything was either off-limits or a walled garden. Someone I know was robbed at gunpoint of her cellphone while sitting in her car with the window down and having a conversation. Everyone says she was lucky.

Now it’s a different country. There is still crime but you can go almost anywhere. The murder rate, once sky-high, is low by US standards. The downtown was dilapidated and dangerous. Now it’s being renovated, bustling, a nice place to walk around.

It’s all because, almost by chance, Salvadorans elected a president who was serious about stopping the gangs that were responsible for most of the crime, and politically skilled and lucky enough (very) to pull it off.

National turnarounds can happen. El Salvador, maybe Argentina, maybe the USA. Europe looks in a bad way, reminiscent of the late 1970s before Reagan and Thatcher. Of course this time is different, it’s worse this time, etc. But this time is always different, and thus rarely different at all: trends, including bad trends, don’t go on forever. Here’s hoping.

New Year’s Eve, 2024

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On New Year’s Eve, I’m always reminded of a thought from the late and very great Neptunus Lex:

I’ve often wished that you could split at each important choice in life. Go both ways, each time a fork in the road came up. Compare notes at the end, those of us that made it to the clearing at the end of the path. Tell it all over a tumbler of smokey, single malt.

I also like a suggestion made last year by Ruxandra Teslo:

We are approaching New Year’s Eve: a time when we should all reflect on what we’re grateful for. It’s easy to compare oneself with others and feel like smth is missing. But why not think about how we have it much better than in the past?

Christmas on the Northern CA Coast

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December 31, 2024

This year I didn’t want to make any plans for joining what family I have left (transplants from CA to MN), and decided to spend Christmas Day alone. Not that I consider myself to be a hermit, but I suppose an odd thing about me is that I feel as comfortable in solitude as with others. Nothing against humanity, but I can go either way.

Besides, I already have enough “stuff.” In fact, I think I have too much stuff. There is something to be said for a simple existence. The “stuff” can end up owning you.

Anyway, the thought popped into my head of driving up to the North Coast and staying at my usual haunt at Ft Bragg, The Beachcomber.

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Boss Move of the Year and Justin Trudeau

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So everyone is doing the “end-of-year” awards thing. I’ll pitch in my thoughts. Man of the Year? Well that’s Trump of course; the fact that he’s coming back to town with a naughty-nice list is the greatest comeback in American political history.

Boss Move of the Year? That goes to Trump as well for his reaction to the assassination attempt in Butler this past July.

Second place in the boss move category? I nominate Trump for his starring role in “Justin Trudeau’s Trip to Mar-a-Lago.”

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