January 15, 2021

Dear Interested Readers,

 

Thinking About Abraham, Martin, and John

 

As dark and disturbing as the last week has been, we have seen darker and more disturbing days. As I was thinking about the fact that today would be Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ninety-first birthday the words of the 1968 song “Abraham, Martin, and John” popped into my head. It is a very sad song that came out in 1968 in the aftermath of the back to back assignations of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy. Teen idol Dion whose pop hits included “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer” was the unlikely singer of this mournful song written by Dick Holler. In case you don’t know the song the words are below. Click on the title to hear Dion sing it. This song puts a lump in my throat and brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. I often hear it in my head at a time like the killing of George Floyd or any other violent event that has racial tension or political disagreement as to its root cause. The myth of  American exceptionalism has a dark underbelly of anger and violence that is exceptional for a country that leads the world in so many laudable ways.

 

“Abraham, Martin And John”

 

Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young

You know I just looked around and he’s gone

 

Anybody here seen my old friend John?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young

I just looked around and he’s gone

 

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed lotta people but it seems the good they die young

I just looked around and he’s gone

 

Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?

Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?

And we’ll be free

Some day soon, it’s gonna be one day

 

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill

With Abraham, Martin, and John

 

This week it’s been hard to watch all the footage that has been aired of last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol without feeling that we are at risk of descending into the abyss that exists as the product of our dysfunctional political divisions. I have been most bothered by seeing the strange combination of anger and glee in the eyes of the mob. It was disturbing to see members of the overwhelmed Capitol police being bludgeoned with anything the mob could grab like the fire extinguisher used to kill Officer Brian Sicknick. We saw people use the flag poles that carried American flags as weapons in the melee. I saw people who would claim to be patriots carrying Confederate battle flags. I have read reports that among the emblems of hate carried by the mob there were flags with the Nazi swastika. I am disturbed by the knowledge that tens of millions of Americans voted for the man for whom this riot was offered as an act of fealty and that over a hundred members of Congress are still trying to find a way to reconcile their oath to the Constitution and not register disgust with the whole mess. Most disturbing is that for the last four years leaders in the Republican Party have tried to use this wannabe autocrat who calls on the darker angels in the psyche of angry people to advance the causes and political advantages that they desire. 

 

Dr. King tried to teach us that nonviolent demonstrations of our resistance to injustice was a better way to affect the social and political changes we desired. I heard a lot of “whataboutism” in the speeches coming from those in the House this week who have been delighted to look the other way as the president has distorted norms. The intent of these sleazy politicians was to excuse or diminish the significance of the violence in the Capitol that was founded in the lie perpetrated by the president and not refuted by a host of politicians on the right who know better by somehow equating the mob that stormed the Capitol with the mostly peaceful demonstrations in the streets last summer against police brutality following the killings of George Floyd, Briana Taylor, and a host of other Black men and women. I reject the idea of equivalence that they suggest. 

 

Having expressed my anger I feel somewhat chided when I remember that Dr. King frequently spoke about the foolishness of returning anger and hate to those who express anger and hate toward you. Listen to his words:

 

I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. To return hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil, and this can only be done through love.

 

The sort of love that Dr. King advocated is not easy to exercise, and through history, its greatest advocates have often been killed. Dr. King was no fool. He knew that the type of love he was advocating requires courage in a time of conflict. 

 

Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic? Vanity asks the question – is it popular? But conscience asks the question – is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.

 

I love the old expression “caught between a rock and a hard place.” That is the place where many of the president’s enablers find themselves now. The dilemma that many Republican Senators will face when the president is brought before the Senate for his trial is the fear that if they hold him accountable for the crimes he has committed they will incur upon themselves the wrath of his devoted base. If they vote to exonerate him those of us who want accountability will loath them. For us to go forward toward the resolution of the deep divide in the nation they should acknowledge their own role in the disaster of the last four years. If an unlikely admission of error were to occur and they acknowledged that they were enablers, Democrats would be challenged to exercise forgiveness. ‘An even greater challenge is to follow Dr. King’s admonition and love them even as they deny responsibility.

 

It is tough to realize that progress toward our enormous challenges will require trying to work with politicians who will never admit their failures. If they don’t acknowledge that their silence in the face of the president’s lie that the election was stolen was a factor in the disaster, we are faced with a choice between letting our divide widen or to unilaterally try to build a bridge to them as we begin our effort to “build back better.”  To follow Dr. King’s prescription is not easy. He does not ask us to give in to injustice that perpetuates inequity. He does ask us to take the first step toward reconciliation. 

 

Love and forgiveness do not negate the need for accountability, but there is tension between them. My clumsy and inadequate attempts to follow Dr. King’s advice convince me that replacing anger with love and understanding would require a miracle. How we will balance accountability with love and forgiveness will be a test for all of us over the next few months. It is easy to condemn the mob, and those of us who want to hold the president accountable may get some satisfaction from his second impeachment and the trial in the Senate that will eventually follow. The real test for those who have been outraged by the events of January 6 and the last four years will be our ability to forgive the president’s enablers who will never admit their error, nor will they apologize for the self-serving risks they have taken with our democracy. Just as they are unlikely to acknowledge their errors, they are also unlikely to ask for forgiveness. The challenge of love going forward will be to try to go forward toward some element of effort toward a bipartisan approach to our shared problems even though they don’t admit their errors.

 

David Brooks’ column today describes the new rift on the religious right that is occurring as some of the fundamentalist ministers are beginning to questioning their own motivations and role in enabling the president. They are experiencing death threats from people like the ones that raided the Capitol. I wish that Dr. King was still with us and could give us guidance in this difficult moment. 

 

What follows over the next three to six months will determine much of the pathway we follow toward better health for all and the Triple Aim. There is much that our new president will be able to do to improve healthcare and the economy with executive orders, but a substantial improvement in the social determinants of health will require bipartisan legislation. We will need to move from where we are to a much better place if we are to mitigate the threat of global warming, protect ourselves from the next pandemic, or make any headway toward real equity in opportunity in a pluralistic nation that has lived with a harsh and controlling caste system for the last four centuries. 

 

If there is anything that Trump’s presidency has demonstrated it is that our democracy is vulnerable to those who can offer lies, brutality, and hate as an operating system to those who are threatened by the idea of improvement in the lives of those they do not consider to be their equal. How I wish we could have a second coming of Dr. King. We could profit from a new prophet and proponent of the unconventional thinking of love and concern for others as the ultimate self-serving strategy. If the pandemic has taught us anything it should be that attaching our brothers and sisters is the equivalent of attacking ourselves and will ultimately destroy the future that we want to offer to our own children. Dr. King has shown us the way to deal with this difficult moment in time.  

 

The Sun Keeps Coming Up In The East and Setting in The West

 

I stole the picture in today’s header as a screenshot from my neighbor Peter Bloch’s recent video production from New Year’s Day, “Wishing You Peace.” Peter has combined his beautiful drone photography with some gorgeous original music from his wife, Kathy Lowe, to make a wonderful gift to anyone who has four minutes to soak it in as an alternative focal point to what we see on the news. On one level the video is a beautiful presentation of my neighborhood in all seasons. Sometimes when I am out walking around and soaking up the beauty or find myself surprised by something I had never noticed before I need to stop and say a word of thanks for the unlikely path that brought us to such a special place. 

 

When I first saw the video I was not sure if I was seeing a sunrise or a sunset. The view is to the west. The moon always rises from the south side of the lake so I am pretty sure that we are looking west at the reflection in the sky of the sun rising behind us in the east. If you look closely above the three dots following Healthcare Musings you can see the moon in the distant western sky.

 

Sometimes I think that if it were not for the Internet and television it would almost be possible to forget the craziness in the rest of the world. That’s not wholly true. I was driving through Wilmot this week, the town that lies just east of us. The first thing I noticed were several Trump 2020 flags that were being proudly displayed from porches and on flagpoles in front yards. What really stopped me and made me sad was what I saw next which was a sign hanging from a porch that said: “Trump 2020, Stop The Steal.” That angry sign was on the west side of Route 4A just a mile or so south of Eagle Pond and the home of our late poet laureate, Donald Hall. On the other side of the road, the east side, there is a small Congregational Church (UCC) that proudly proclaims with rainbow colors that it is “open and affirming.” I know many of its members. The people that worship at that little church are dedicated to social justice and live lies that are the antithesis of the ugly mob that swarmed the Capitol last week. 

 

As we face an uncertain future living in a land that is deeply divided, it is good to remember that Dr. King believed that the arc of history bends toward justice. We live in a time when it seems we have forgotten how to exchange ideas. It is frightening to realize that people can become so frustrated that they resort to violence. It is good to remember that no matter how crazy this coming week may turn out to be, we were once blessed for a little while by the presence of a wise teacher like Dr. King who spoke the truth even when many hated him for his efforts. If all else fails to reassure you, remember that there is great beauty to be enjoyed in the natural world and in all art. Do not forget that the sun will rise and set in moments of great beauty no matter how hopeless things might seem. Also, remember that there are many good people among us who have taken Dr. King’s message to heart. They are trying hard to force the arc of history to bend toward justice as soon as possible.

 

I hope that this weekend you will have an uplifting Martin Luther King, Jr. moment of remembrance.  

Be well,

Gene