Remembering My Friend

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It was five years ago today that I lost Steve, one of my best friends, to lung cancer, and my mind is preoccupied with thoughts of him.

I knew Steve when I lived in Arkansas — Little Rock, to be exact. He and his wife Kathy moved in across the hall from a friend of mine, Brady, who lived in an apartment complex close to the one where I lived — easily within walking distance. In fact, I recall a time when we had no choice but to walk to each other's apartments. It was in the last winter I spent in Little Rock, and we got an uncharacteristically heavy snowfall (for Arkansas). We were snowbound for a few days, but the three of us passed the time playing a computer football game at my apartment — and watching TV at Steve's.

In the past, Arkansas snow tended to disappear by midday after an inch or two accumulated during the night. But on this occasion, several inches fell — they still speak of that blizzard in Arkansas — and it was two or three days before enough snow melted for cars to start getting around again.

I have many fond memories of that time. I suppose everyone has periods like that in their lives that they wish would never end, but they always do, of course. When I left Arkansas, it was to enroll in graduate school; at the time I didn't think the move would be permanent. I always figured I would move back to Arkansas after I finished working on my master's. I never did, though, and there are times when I really regret that. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part — it is just the way things turned out.

Steve and a mutual friend of ours, Mike Culpepper (who is also deceased), came to visit me in Texas not long after I moved here. When they arrived and I answered the door, Steve's first words to me were, "You don't live across the parking lot anymore!" That was certainly true. I now lived more than 300 miles away.

I do regret not seeing Steve before he died. I would have liked to have told him how much his friendship had meant to me and how much I was going to miss him. Near the end of his life, I'm not sure Steve would have comprehended what was being said, but still it would have meant a lot to me to express those thoughts to him.

Steve was a typical Arkansas sportsman. I'm not speaking only of the Razorbacks — although Steve was a diehard Hogs fan. He loved to hunt and fish. I went fishing with him a few times, but I never went hunting with him. I've never been a hunter, and I have never owned a gun, but I did join him at deer camp once. The picture at the top of this post was taken that weekend. That was how I did my hunting on that occasion — with a camera.

This picture wasn't as sharp as I would have liked — I've never been more than an amateur photographer — but it is one of my favorites. It captures the vivid sunlight of that day (there is no real indication how chilly it was), and it shows Steve and my dog Pepper (he's that black lump behind Steve).

Steve and Pepper met each other that weekend, and they bonded over a box of fried chicken that Steve had. They would have bonded anyway, I'm sure. Steve was a friendly guy, and Pepper was a friendly dog, especially to anyone who gave him food. Both are gone now, and I miss them very much.

It isn't my way to be melancholy about the past, but sometimes melancholy thoughts take over for awhile, and today is one of those times. If I could go back to any day in my life and re–live it, today I would probably pick that day at deer camp.

Steve would probably understand, but he wouldn't want me to live in the past. Pepper, of course, wouldn't understand much except that I wasn't happy, and it would be his way to try to cheer me up.

In their own ways, they were both forward–looking personalities. I am grateful they were in my life, and I strive to learn from their examples.

I miss you, my friends. Wish you were here.

Vice Presidents Who Live in Glass Houses

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I found it amusing recently when former Vice President Joe Biden, speaking of Donald Trump's well–publicized "locker–room" recording made public during the 2016 campaign, a recording in which the future president spoke indelicately about women, boasted that, if they had met in high school (which is just barely possible since Biden is more than three years older than Trump), he would have taken Trump "behind the gym and beat the hell out of him" for the language he used.

Thus, Biden sets himself up as a defender of women.

I'll grant you that "beat[ing] the hell out of" someone isn't as offensive as the description of female genitalia that Trump used in the recording — but neither is exactly the kind of language traditionally expected from a president or a would–be president.

What's more, while there is no evidence of Trump having done what he described in that infamous recording, there is ample photographic evidence of Biden groping the wife of Ash Carter, the new secretary of Defense, in February 2015.

Seems to me the vice president should remember that old adage about those who live in glass houses.

Is It Over in Austin?

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The recent series of bombings in Austin — and one in San Antonio — appears to have ended overnight. The suspect blew himself up in the wee hours of the morning, and authorities have expressed confidence that he was, indeed, the serial bomber.

That, of course, is hard to confirm this morning. What can be confirmed — but has not yet been made public, pending notification of the 24–year–old suspect's kin — is the identity of the individual.

It has been reminiscent of the 2001 serial anthrax attacks, which were made through the mail and remain unsolved.

I have also been reminded of the D.C. sniper attacks of 2002 that terrorized the Beltway for three weeks.

Investigators may also know other things that point definitively to his guilt, but the only way for anyone outside of law enforcement to be sure that this reign of terror is over will be if there are no other explosions.

Investigators can't be certain at this point that there are no other bomb–laden packages out there so they are still urging caution. Consequently, I expect folks in Austin — and, given the explosion that occurred in San Antonio a couple of days ago, the rest of Texas — to be on edge for awhile.

It is strong circumstantial evidence that the suspect blew himself up rather than be taken into custody — but, while such evidence carries substantial weight in the court of public opinion, it is far less conclusive in courts of law.

Perhaps authorities have forensic evidence that links the suspect to the bombings. If so, we may learn about this evidence in the days and weeks ahead.

But questions will remain until such evidence is made public.

And some questions may never be answered. For example, the greatest question on the minds of most Texans, I suppose, is "Why did he do this?"

Investigators undoubtedly will speculate about his motivation, but only the suspect himself could provide the answer. Did the suspect have a grudge against someone? Did he want to see how far he could go before authorities caught him?

Sometimes, of course, there is no answer — and that is something with which the people of Austin and the rest of Texas may have to live.

What Does the Future Hold for Democrats?

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We don't yet know the outcome in Tuesday's special election in Pennsylvania.

Well, OK, we do know — probably — that Democrat Conor Lamb beat Republican Rick Saccone for an open House seat — but it is so close that, even after the mail–in ballots are counted, there will probably be a recount. Recounts usually confirm the initial results — but not always so there is still no winner.

But the question will remain — what does this victory mean for Democrats in a political environment that appears to favor them?

Lamb did not run as a far–left Democrat. Indeed he took more centrist positions on issues like guns, and he disavowed Nancy Pelosi, which was the prudent approach in Western Pennsylvania. Other positions would have meant almost certain defeat.

But centrists are a vanishing breed in American politics.

From the days of Jimmy Carter to the days of Bill Clinton, the area was fairly reliable territory for Democrats, and that was frequently seen in its House representation as well, although two future Republican senators represented the district in the '70s and '90s, but it has been trending Republican since the turn of the millennium.

Much was made of the fact that Donald Trump won the district by 20 percentage points in 2016 even though Trump's share of the vote in that district was the same as Mitt Romney's four years earlier. Barack Obama fared slightly better in 2012 than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 only because Libertarian Gary Johnson siphoned off 3% of the vote in 2016. John McCain received 55% of the district's vote in 2008, and George W. Bush carried 54% of the district's ballots in 2004.

An extreme–left stance probably would have resulted in Lamb's defeat, which leads us to the question of what the immediate future holds for Democrats. The assumption is that this will be the Democrats' year, and extreme positions will work in some places like San Francisco and New York, but they won't work in places like Pittsburgh.

Midterm election years are quite different from presidential election years. It is easier to nationalize campaigns when there is a presidential race on the ballot. In midterms everything is more localized. Yes, to a degree, midterms are referendums on the president, but they are more about issues that concern the voters in specific states and districts.

Obviously, what works in one place won't necessarily work in another, but the midterms will be crucial for Democrats to establish their identity for the 2020 election, when the presidency will be on the ballot. Now is when the Democrats need to decide if they are going to take a more moderate approach or veer farther to the left.

If they want to take a more inclusive approach in the hope of luring disaffected Democrats who abandoned the party in recent years, they may risk a rebellion from the radical fringe.

It will be interesting to see which direction they choose.