Memories of Watergate (1973)-- my favorite year

The year 1973 was a big one for me. I moved from New York to this little-known city of Austin, Texas. Willie Nelson helped set the positive tone for the city on his mission to bring Cowboys and Hippies together in a spirit of peace and friendship.

The term for cowboys was actually Rednecks. As for hippies, I'm sure we had our share of insults from more traditional Texans but we found our place in Austin, a town know for liberalism and open mindedness. The University of Texas brought intellectual fervor and the State Capitol was the other big game in town. Jobs were scarce and salaries were low. But you could live in central Austin on a waiter's wages.

Before I became a waiter I worked briefly as a carpenter's helper on a construction site called Timbercreek Apartments. The project still exists on South 1st Street across from the Texas School for the Deaf.

Several notable details about the spring of 1973. We actually had a fair number of white guys working on the job--  hippie carpenters and assorted locals. Home building now dominated by Hispanic guys-- was more integrated in those days. At lunch break we would listen to the radio for Watergate reports and eat homemade sandwiches with bean sprouts and whole wheat bread. No cellphones, no GrubHub.

Watergate caused some consternation but hysteria levels were not at the fever pitch of today's battles between Left and Right. I don't even recall the political opinions being expressed during lunch break. Being a New York liberal made me slightly wary of expressing radical viewpoints except with my close friends.

Austin, Texas had a laid back friendliness that holds more memories any opinions being expressed. Democrats actually held elective office in the state. The Hispanic influence on Texas added a feeling of diversity. Border crossing happened relatively easily. The laissez-faire and relative ease for going back and forth to Mexico impressed me. "How cool to border another country," I thought.

At day's end the hippie carpenters descended on nearby Armadillo World Headquarters. Jim Franklin created the Armadillo concept, the well-armored little beasts were a symbol of the counter culture. I marveled at Texas carpenters' talent for working hard and then consuming massive amounts of beer along with marijuana-- in quantities unrivaled on the East Coast.

Texas was a new world. After stepping on some nails and busting some knuckles and fingernails I quickly surmised my lack of talent for carpentry.

Watergate discussions on MSNBC reminded me of that very important year.

Slippery Slope: Olympics and Gun Violence

Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women's Giant Slalom on Thursday. I couldn't help but notice the amazing speed of the downhill slope. Looked like a sheet of ice. She got down the hill in a hurry, faster than everybody else. But let's go back to the ski slope.

Erik Schopy, an ex-Olympic skier, described the race as follows: “The World Cup runs are pure ice,” Schlopy said. “It’s basically a slab of marble that’s a mile long.”
(Wall Street Journal, Feb. 12)

Mikaela practiced on the icy slopes in Vermont. The conditions in Vermont differ from the powdery snow in Vail, Colorado. Mikaela's workouts in icy Vermont prepared her perfectly for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the slab of marble.

Using the metaphor of an icy hill downwards got me to thinking about Parkland, Florida and the loss of 17 young lives. America has a problem it cannot solve. We pride ourselves on solving problems efficiently. This is a nation of problem-solvers. 

The gun issue is so vexing because we cannot solve it. Left-wingers and liberals like the notion of gun control The Right wing, the conservatives, the Trump voters, love the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear firearms. The roadblock in viewpoints has become impassable-- on guns and so many other partisan issues.

Guns either symbolize something important, or actually are important. Gun owners delight in the physical properties of guns and the energy they derive from them -- the way you  love an automobile or a favorite sports team. 

Guns inspires a deep love for many. I'm from Texas. I don't have a gun. Some of my conservative  friends have the AR-15. They truly love their guns. The love buying them. They love selling to each other.  They love talking guns. 

Guns have a tactile quality. The gun folks have always repeated that rifles and pistols will not be taken away from them. They would have to be pried from their "cold, dead hands..." as Charlton Heston said in his famous NRA speech, 

The slippery slope of American society is the anxiety between Left and Right, liberal and conservative, a deep divide with no hope for change. There is nary a sign of flexibility. 

America finds itself going down a slippery slope. Guns, like automobiles and typewriters, are an invention from the past. The firearms debate harkens to the past. You can picture a Civil War era gun owner getting excited by a more efficient rifle. 

The "disruptive" breakthroughs caused by technology is what our present day world is really about yet we are mired in guns. 

Our partisan divide is as dangerous as a skiing down a slab of marble. Mikaela Shiffrin learned to handle icy conditions but politics is trickier and more perilous than a downhill race . 

We have become handcuffed. A great divide has opened up between Left and Right. There is no sign of a solution. We are going downhill with hands locked behind our backs in a psychological straitjacket.

Could mean a bumpy ride for all of us. 

We need an exit from our constant state of internecine warfare.

We need an unexpected lift. A way to Higher Ground.