2012 Election, Flooding and Duct Tape

English: A roll of silver, Scotch brand duct tape. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are all watching the news from the East Coast. Devastation to property, loss of income, death and the national financial consequences for this storm may bring many their knees. However, some good might come of this event...maybe we will see if we can work together.

I remember commenting on a blog recently about the hatred in our political rhetoric. My thoughts were that the hatred would only lessen in the face of a disaster. It seems we are at our best when we need to pull together toward a common goal. Hopefully no candidate will try to make political hay out of this. We will see. I didn't think that the talk after Libya was our finest hour.

That brings me to the duct tape. You know what duct tape is don't you? It is a tape that is so sticky and tough that it can kill warts. At one time it only come in silver but it may be available in other colors now. Most importantly it has many many uses.

In the eastern part of Oregon, the Snake River runs along the border of the state. That river floods over and over. When the snow melts in mountain throughout Idaho and Oregon, the Snake can rage out of its banks onto farmland covering islands and damaging homes that sit near the river.

A family that I know lives on one of those island near Ontario. The year that the river came to the level of a 100 year flood the family evacuated their small home and left everything they possessed behind. Each time the river flooded they needed to make that hard decision. However, they knew that safety was more important than anything. This flood was the worst they had ever seen.

In this particular case the wife decided to get out her supply of duct tape. As her husband moved cattle off the island and evacuated the children, she sealed the home up on the inside at every crack and cranny with the sticky gray tape. As she stepped out of the home she sealed the door behind her and drove through the water off the island just as the water was flowing over the bridge.

When the family returned home, the house had the water marks up the sides but the house sat on the foundation and the interior was absolutely dry. 

 I did not see the house so I cannot vouch for the truth of this story. I only know that I have always thought about duct tape in a whole new way. The many uses for such a simple thing can be amazing.

So today as we wait for our election the hurricane has done the unthinkable...it has stopped the campaigning. This can be our presidential canditates finest hour...or not. But I am an optimist. I hope that maybe one candidate with call the other and ask "What can I do?  How can I help?" Is that possible?

Since we are all in the same storm, it seems to me that we could all just stop bickering, pick up a shovel and put duct tape where it is needed.

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Dancing Around the "Black" Issue...football and hanging chairs!

KATU.com photograph 

John Canzano writes a column for the Oregonian Sport Page. He is always willing to call the sports community on it's wonky actions. When Oregon State University called off a spirit day called "Black Out Reser (the name of OSU football stadium)" because of some student opposition, Canzano thought the university missed an opportunity to pursue the teachable moment to it's full advantage. He thinks that bigotry needs to dealt with face on and not swept under the rug. In his view, a few culturally insensitive students should not be allowed to dictate university policies. The debate began because of the behavior of a student or students several years ago:

In 2007, a Barometer-led (OSU student newspaper) try at a blackout caused some students to take it a bit far. They colored their faces black and wore black Afro wigs. According to the paper, it "caused a stir'' on campus, and student leaders are fearful of another stir.  Oregonian, Oct. 2

Canzano maintained that the university should give students and the community the opportunity to hold "the students up as an ugly example of how far we still need to come as a society." I agree with him that peer pressure and disdain will deter the unhealthy behavior far better than just rolling over and crawling under the table. He felt that the administration had taken the easy way out by calling off the event.

But dancing around the "black" issue at Reser stadium is not the only place we are seeing the connection between the color "black" and the historical injustices of the past her in the Portland metro area. It seems that a man in Camas, Washington decided to hang a chair from the tree in his front yard. The white lawn chair had the words "no-bama" written on it. The people that did this appeared to be so uninformed that they did not even know where the symbol originated or how hurtful it was.

When I looked the "hanging chair in the news" it appears that the "ugly example of how far we still need to come as a society" doesn't just happen on the college campus. Adults also fail to understand how the offensive and problematic a "hanging chair" can be. It is happening not only in Washington but in places like Michigan, Virginia and Texas. Huffinton Post said that a blogger initiated the protest:

It must be noted that a popular movement involving the display of empty chairs was initiated by right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin. In pitching the empty-chair protest earlier in September, Malkin wrote, "Decorate yours anyway you want it." Certainly, Malkin couldn't have meant the symbolic lynching of the president, right?

I am a retired person and I pay attention to politics. When Clint Eastwood took to the stage at the Republican convention with an empty chair I could only wonder where a chair with an invisible President Obama would lead. I thought that no good would come of the disrespect displayed by Eastwood. Now I am in no mood for creepy Clint Eastwood's "make my day" wannabes lynching symbolic chairs in their trees. I am hoping that other Americans feel the same. When the Detroit Free Press said:

NBC News reported that the Secret Service is looking into the empty chair incidents. "The Secret Service is aware of this and will conduct appropriate followup," spokesman Brian Leary told NBC.

Do you suppose they could go to Camas WA and explain to the man and wife that a chair hanging with our presidents name on it goes to heart of disrespect and even may be viewed as a threat to the President? Let's quit tiptoeing around the fact that racial slurs are not tolerated, the lynching of empty chairs hits too close to a hateful by gone era and implied threats to our president will not fly in our country! Black is the color of a football uniform and the dress in my closet. It is beautiful and always has been. But if you use it in the wrong way, the country and even the world does not like that.

Where do these people come from and why do they crawl out from underneath their rocks in an election year. Better yet...who do you suppose they are supporting and will be voting for?

Incidentally, OSU is reinstating a spirit day and is encouraging student to wear their school colors...but the word "black" just cannot come out of their mouth. It is sad!


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Related articles
OSU cancels 'blackout' as racially insensitive (mysanantonio.com)
Hanging chair Obama reference stirs controversy (kgw.com)
Wearing black is now offensive (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
Loveland Residents Call 'Chair Lynching' A Hate Crime (denver.cbslocal.com)
Empty chair 'lynchings': Anti-Obama protests? (usnews.nbcnews.com)
Oregon State cancels 'blackout' as racially insensitive (koinlocal6.com)