There’s a lot going on. Today President Trump is coming to Cincinnati, to focus attention on one of his major campaign pledges – improving America’s deteriorating infrastructure. Infrastructure, of course, can be highways and bridges and tunnels and sewers and our electrical grid; but it can also include our nation’s waterways, specifically dams and locks and levees and ports. And that’s apparently what the President intends to focus on in Cincinnati, since we’re a river town.
The dams and locks which harnessed the Ohio River all the way from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi River, were built in the 1820’s and 30’s, and “modernized” in the 1950’s. So they’ve been around for a while, and are starting to show a lot of wear. It may not be a particularly sexy issue, but it’s an important one nonetheless. And good for President Trump for spending his valuable time on a too-often-neglected issue. But it will take follow-up. Who can forget President Obama standing on the banks of the Ohio River, with the Brent Spence Bridge as a backdrop, promising to replace that important piece of our nation’s infrastructure (and where did that get us?)
Okay, that’s today. How about yesterday? Well, yesterday was D-Day. 73 years ago, June 6th, 1944, American, British and Canadian forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to defeat the forces of Hitler totalitarianism in Europe. Although D-Day still gets some recognition in the news, it’s not nearly enough. The best I’ve found is on cable TV’s American Heroes Channel (AHC) which is channel 80 on Time Warner Cable, which is now Spectrum. I also usually try to catch Saving Private Ryan, or The Longest Day, which I first saw with my grandfather (a WWI vet) back in the early 1960’s, and I’ve seen both movies many times. Here’s a photo of my dad (fourth from the left) who was a World War II veteran, and served in France, England, and Germany.
And tomorrow? Well, former FBI Director James Comey will be testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The attention the mainstream media has been devoting to this reminds me of Colonel Oliver North testifying in the Iran/Contra scandal during the Reagan Administration. Or maybe Anita Hill’s testimony during the Senate confirmation of Clarence Thomas. There was some speculation that President Trump might block Comey’s testimony by invoking executive privilege – but he didn’t. We can expect breathless up-to-the-minute updates from the likes of Wolf Blitzer, Andrea Mitchell, and Jake Tapper. God help us.
Also, something I’ve been noticing when watching the chattering classes on political news shows lately. They want us to believe that Donald Trump has become unhinged. Now they belittled and demeaned other recent Republican presidents, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in particular, but the levels of criticism reserved for Donald Trump seems to have no limits. Using MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as an example, just yesterday host Joe Scarborough suggested that President Trump has “mental health issues.” A regular panelist on the show, Donny Deustch, said that President Trump “clearly has a personality disorder.” And another regular on the show, Eugene Robinson titled his column in the Washington Post yesterday, “A Presidency Unhinged.” In my opinion, such talk is pretty disgraceful. How about a little respect guys? But I guess that’s asking too much.
And finally, since I’m on the topic of watching TV, my son Randy had been saying for years that I should watch “Parks and Recreation.” Randy said he thought I’d particularly identify with Ron Swanson, since this character worked for the government, is a conservative, and hates the government. Well the show ran for seven seasons, until it ended in 2015, and I just never got around to watching it. Then I sort of binged all seven seasons on Netflix recently, and really enjoyed it. My son was right.
Speaking of television shows, in my opinion, the three greatest TV shows of all time are: The Wire, The Sopranos, and The Shield (not that you asked.) I have to admit that I’ve watched all three more than once, and am currently in season three of re-watching The Wire. Thank heavens for Netflix, and HBO Go, etc.
I know, I got a little off track this week, but at least for me, it was fun. See you next week.