If nothing else, the image above should resolve the issue of how much of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES is connected to my previous stories seen the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA series published by Archie Comics. And the answer is…
Very much so.
However, new readers don’t need to panic because all the info they need to know is contained in THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS hardcover collection found elsewhere on this very site.
The image pictured above is directly taken from the SHATTERED TOMORROWS storyline which depicts Lara-Su in her form (albeit seen only in silhouette) recalling events previously seen in the MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER chapters (along with some events that were slated to be seen but were never able to for a variety of reasons).
Obviously, there are differences between SHATTERED TOMORROWS and M:25YL, so how is it possible to have a flashback with the character recalling her previous design? Trust me. It’s all part of the story. And no, it’s not a dream, a hoax or an imaginary story. I gave the details an incredible amount of thought.
None of this fully came together until I started laying the pages out I needed to complete in order to get the book ready for the printer. Once I saw where the flashback sequence fell, it became a matter of depicting how one era merged with the other. Once I had the visual cues, everything fell into place.
As an added bonus, working on this sequence also provided guidance for including Easter Eggs referencing previous events and characters into the story along the way. This is my way of saying thank you to readers who’ve been there since the beginning. At the same time, new readers don’t need to feel they have to search out hard-to-find back issues in order to enjoy the story. After all, I’m moving forward. If I tie up a previous loose ends along the way, that’s a bonus.
The question I now get asked the most these days is how can one buy a copy of my book that I’m preparing to send to the printers. That’s followed by asking if it will be available on Amazon or available for purchase through one’s comic book retail outlet.
It was only because I had been approached by representatives from printing companies that prompted me to do my due diligence on the viability of the project, figuring out the costs, how many copies needed to be printed, what the price of the book would be as well as the return on investment. I crunched the numbers based on what discounts I would have to give to distributors such as Diamond or selling through outlets like Amazon.
I’m still wrestling with those questions because the print run is not that big. My concern at the moment is if I do list the book with Amazon or make it available through Diamond to the comic book shops, there’s a strong possibility I won’t have enough copies to fill all the orders going those routes.
The real possibility of a print run sell-out leads to my next conundrum. Do I go to a second printing or not? My feeling right now is to hold off on doing a second print run. For one thing, I’m not sure if I’ll continue to print it as a hardcover or softcover book once the initial run sells out. Another reason I may not reprint depends on what projects I move forward with next.
So the game plan for now is this:
I send the files to the printer. Approximately three months or so later, the copies are shipped to me. If they arrive in time, I may do a soft launch of the book at the Los Angeles Book Fair in April. Whether I do the book fair or not, the first people to receive their copies are those who pre-order. They are the priority.
Beyond that, unless there’s a comic book convention happening in California between May and the San Diego Comic-Con, I plan on conducting the official launch of the book from my location at Table II-24 in Artists Alley during the aforementioned San Diego Comic-Con. Attendees can pre-arrange for me to have a copy set aside by pre-paying both before and during the convention as I will be bringing a set number of copies with me.
During the convention, I do plan on meeting with representatives at Diamond, Scholastic, Amazon and other possible distribution outlets. Until that happens, all plans are subject to change on a moments notice.
So, for now, the best advice I can give anyone is to pre-order their copy. If they live in another country, click on the CHANGE ADDRESS link to see the list of countries I currently ship to. If their country is not on the list, please email me so I can add it to the list. (Note: you’ll need to add a copy to the cart before you can access this page.)
Please keep in mind that the deadline to be included on the SPECIAL THANKS page is January 15, 2024. All those who pre-order by that date are guaranteed to be listed.
One last note: If I do end up going to additional printings, the sure-fire way to tell which printing one has obtained is by checking to see which outfit Lien-Da is wearing on her DATA FILE page. Above is the version that will be seen in the original print run. The only way to see all the outfits she’s depicted in will be in her Data File page on the Lara-Su app.
As usual, if there are any questions I have not addressed, please email me. I will respond. Thank you.
Christmas will soon be here, and if you’re wondering what to give a friend or family member or even yourself, at the risk of sounding too much like a commercial (which is exactly what this is), might I suggest pre-ordering a copy of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS hardcover collection?
If you’re new to the saga, here’s a good place start. And if you’ve read the MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER stories when they were first published, you’re about to embark on a journey to see how the rest of the adventure unfolds, experiencing new characters, new worlds as well as new levels of world building.
Also, if you’re one of the first 200 readers to pre-order a copy, not only will you receive a Limited Edition Full Color Print of Lara-Su signed personally by me, but you’ll also see your name listed in both the book and the Lara-Su App on the SPECIAL THANKS page.
But you’ll have to act quick. This offer applies only to those who pre-order their copy on or before January 15, 2024. After that, the book will be locked and sent off to the printers.
Once the copies arrive from the printers approximately 3 months later, everyone who pre-ordered their copies will receive their book before the book’s official launch at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, where you’ll be able to find me at Table II-24 in Artists Alley.
Ken and Chris figuring out the shot (C), with Josh Van Meter (L) and Josh Glass (R) standing by to assist
I’ve been out of sorts this week as I lost a very dear friend who lived with our family for the past 10+ years or so. He was originally supposed to stay a few weeks but somehow it morphed into something much more long term.
I first met Chris back in September 2008 when I got the wild idea of actually making a presentation reel based on my comic book THE LOST ONES. I was interviewing applicants for the position of Director of Cinematography and was getting discouraged at the prospect of young guys out of film school telling me how I was going to shoot my film when Chris showed up to meet me.
He already had more than 40 years of experience, was extremely French (having been actually born and lived in Paris), and gave me hope when he said the magic words, “You tell me what you want on film, and I will shoot your vision.” At this point, age didn’t matter at all. I had found my Director of Cinematography. More than that, though I didn’t know it at the time, I had found a mentor.
As we worked on shooting scenes for THE LOST ONES presentation reel, what we shot both impressed and inspired another friend of mine, who wanted me to film a script he had written. It was because of the experience I gained shooting the reel that I felt comfortable making the quick leap to a much bigger project.
All during this time, Chris was both encouraging and infuriating. Infuriating because he could see my shortcomings and inexperience show and never hesitated to point them out. Yet, in the next breath, he would patiently guide me to a solution while preserving the vision I saw in my head instead of compromising that vision.
We worked under difficult circumstances and an extremely limited budget, yet somehow we pulled off (with help of a number of family, friends and industry professionals) what we set out to do. The result was a 60-minute pilot episode titled THE REPUBLIC.
I couldn’t have pulled off the project without Chris, yet he was the one most effusive of praise for me for the finished film. “This was your film school” he would tell me, “and you have what most don’t, a finished film.”
To Chris, the work was the only thing that mattered. So much so that because of his willingness to travel anywhere for the job, he lived in a storage unit that had a room for a bed along with a bathroom with a shower. It was only once the landlord decided to destroy all the bathrooms in every unit of the complex instead of working with the city to get the units permitted, that Chris found himself having to look for a new home on a fixed income.
When learning of Chris’s situation, Bernie and I offered him the use of our spare bedroom while he looked around for a place to live.
Circumstances would result in that spare bedroom being his solution and so he continued to live with us. He was easy to live with and was a constant presence in the home for our two cats whenever Bernie & I had to be elsewhere. He proved to be a great companion for Bernie’s mom when she moved in with us because of her health issues, sitting next to her watching TV for hours on end up until the day when she passed away.
Chris himself suffered from cancer for most of the 10 years he lived us, so there were plenty of doctors visits and treatments during that time. Even so, he never complained or exhibited any self-pity over his situation, eternally grateful that we were the kind of people we are.
During the last couple of years of his life, maybe longer (I never kept track), I would usually take Chris for his treatments every three weeks until this past October when he startled me with his request, “I want to go into hospice care.”
Chris had had enough and saw no point in prolonging his existence, especially since it was long past time when he could step onto a movie set doing work that gave him purpose.
I tried talking him out of taking what I saw was a drastic step toward the inevitable, but he was determined, and I had to respect that.
We continued to take care of him until two days before Thanksgiving, when his nephew and great-niece flew in from Paris to see their favorite Uncle one last time.
After that, we had him transferred to a facility that could provide better care 24/7 than we ever could for his final days. I managed to to visit him shortly after that when he looked me in the eyes and said matter-of-factly in his customary French manner, “Dying is boring.”
I received a phone call from his caregiver Monica roughly about 7:00am or thereabouts on Monday, December 11. Chris had passed away earlier at 6:09am while she held his hand and played gospel music at his request softly in the background.
I made it up to the facility about a couple of hours later to take care of Chris’s remains. I’d see to it that his last wishes were honored.
Chris leaves behind family in France, including an older sister and her family, as well as a legion of friends and colleagues scattered throughout the world. Chris traveled everywhere, including war zones. He would be debriefed by the US State Department after several of these travels.
He met, dined with on occasion and photographed numerous celebrities such as Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Forster and many others, including Bond girl Daniela Bianchi who starred in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Chris shared an interest in cooking with actor Vincent Schiavelli, who played Dr Kaufmann in the Bond film TOMORROW NEVER DIES. He did photo shoots in the offices of Senator Ted Kennedy shortly after his brother was assassinated as well red carpet shots from the Academy Awards.
The one assignment he was most proud of was a documentary he filmed about a Monk who spent most of his years living in Communist China and was living out his days in a monastery here in southern California. Chris was in the audience when the man gave what proved to be his final sermon during mass, proceeded to sit down and then died before the congregation. He had just turned 100 years old. Chris admiringly stated after “He died with his boots on” and expressed a preference for dying in a similar manner.
Chris never bragged of his accomplishments or the people he met. One would only discover his past experiences through offhand moments that left one wondering whether he was being serious or pulling one’s leg. Eventually, the photographic evidence would show Chris underselling his experiences and connections.
Chris would say there are only 2 kinds of problems. The first were those he had an answer for, therefore it was not a problem. The other were problems beyond his control, so they didn’t count as problems either. Somehow, he made it through 84 years which began with Nazis marching through the streets of Paris when he was a young boy. He lived a life and then some.
I’d been meaning to write about the passing of one of the most significant Directors in the history of television since it was reported this past November 12, but as usual, life got in the way and it’s only now I’m able to write more than a few words of the man.
More than a few obits have stated his work on the BATMAN TV series would result in him working on the STAR TREK pilot when in fact it was the other way around. Mr Butler was hired to direct the 1st STAR TREK pilot titled The Cage”, with his work responsible for the most impressive science fiction film meant for television at the time. That the NBC network didn’t initially buy the series was through no fault of the director’s efforts. Rather, his work was so good, that NBC was willing to take the unprecedented step (at that time) and ordered a second pilot. Despite the differences between the 1st pilot with all subsequent episodes, creator-producer Gene Roddenberry was able to use the footage from “The Cage” as a flashback story that resulted in the only 2-part episode during the run of the original series.
The next year brought his next historic assignment, namely the BATMAN pilot that ABC-TV was very interested in. The pilot was filmed very much true to the comic book origins of the character, including mentioning how Bruce’s parents had been murdered when he was a young boy. The big hook with the pilot is that it was presented in 2 parts with the first part ending on a cliffhanger to get viewers to tune in for the conclusion the next night. This would establish the formula for the show’s first 2 seasons and resulted in a massive ratings success for the network.
Mr Butler would go on to direct a number of other pilots, made for television films such as DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY along with episodes of various series such as KUNG FU, THE INVADERS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and many others.
After watching others reap the rewards of his work because they were able to claim Creator credit, Mr Butler decided he would try his hand creating a series. It was he who first came up with the concept of a female private detective hiding behind the cover of a fictitious boss as well as the name REMINGTON STEELE. He’d written an outline and even produced an audio cassette featuring the female detective’s first adventure.
I learned about the history of the creation of REMINGTON STEELE when I decided to write a book about the making of the series, figuring there would be be an audience for the book even though the show had been off the air for a number of years by that point due to the announcement of Pierce Brosnan being cast as James Bond for the film GOLDENEYE.
I was able to track down Mr Butler’s phone number and called to see if he would submit an interview once I explained the purpose for my call. He was more than generous with his time and allowed for me to conduct any follow-up questions.
The most interesting part of his concept was that the character Remington Steele was never supposed to be played by just one actor. There would be a series of Remington Steeles as Butler saw the main character as more a female James Bond, whose sexuality was a reflection of the more liberated times.
Butler would submit his proposal to NBC CEO Grant Tinker after having filmed the pilot for HILL STREET BLUES for NBC, figuring one good turn would result in another. Since Butler had never written a complete script up to that time, it was felt that Butler should work with an established write, and thus Michael Gleason was brought on to flesh out Butler’s concepts. It was Gleason who would jettison the Butler’s concept of the multiple Remington Steeles, reasoning network television audiences weren’t ready for a female character bedding multiple men during the run of the show. (Women may have been liberated, but that was a bridge too far for the network at the time.)
Butler recalled the pilot for the series was actually the second episode aired and it wouldn’t be until they were about to shoot the 5th episode that they actually decided to show how the main characters met, thus shooting what is now regarded as the show’s pilot after the fact.
Butler received his Co-creator credit and the rewards that came with it, and would go to launch other shows such as MOONLIGHTING and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN years later.
I always meant to get back to that book about REMINGTON STEELE, but a comic book series called SONIC THE HEDGEHOG would take up much of my time soon after as well as a number of other projects. Mr Butler’s passing results in a regret I never followed up with him.
I extend my condolences to his family and friends and share in their loss.
I won’t find out where my exact location will be at the FAN EXPO San Francisco experience taking place during Thanksgiving Weekend from Friday, November 24, thru Sunday, November 26 until sometime during the next few days. I’ll post that info once I receive word from the convention organizers.
To make finding me easier, look for the banner I have posted above. A much larger version will be displayed behind me at the table I’ll be located at. I’ll have a selection of the above-listed items available for sale, but if there’s something in particular you’re looking for and will be attending, please email me and I’ll check to see if I can accommodate your request.
In the meantime, if you’re not able to attend, you can still pre-order THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS hardcover collection and be listed as one of its supporters on the SPECIAL THANKS page both in the book and on the Lara-Su App. If you read the original MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER stories published way back when in the pages of the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG series, the new material picks up where the story left off. If you’re a newcomer to the characters and stories, the collection will quickly put you on the same page with the original readers.
Also, I’m bringing some items that have been in storage for more than a decade, such as the first SONIC THE HEDGEHOG T-shirt design I created.
I only have 2 size Medium shirts available. These were created as part of a promotion I worked out with the late SEGA Licensing Manager Robert Leffler for the SONIC SatAM DVD BOXSET and are the last shirts with this design available. I’m selling each for $25 plus $10 shipping and handling for those who can’t make the show. It’s a first come, first served situation. These won’t be listed on my store page until after the convention, so you’ll have to contact me via email prior to that.
Keep checking back for further announcements as we keep getting closer to showtime.
I’ve been a Beatles fan literally all my life, ever since I discovered a copy of the album INTRODUCING THE BEATLES on the VeeJay label my Grandmother dropped off at my parents’ home, along with the rest of my uncle’s record albums after he left home to go serve in the US Air Force. (In those days, mothers simply didn’t value anything their sons collected. As far as they were concerned, it was all junk. My father suffered the same fate when his mother got rid of his comic book collection, which included the earliest SUPERMAN and BATMAN issues, among other titles.)
To give further proof what an impact the band had on me, I was only 5 years old when I saw them perform for the first time on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. I clearly remember the family gathered around the black & white TV at my Aunt Marge’s home. My mother’s younger cousins enjoyed them as much as I did, but the older relatives were horrified at what they had just witnessed. (“They look like girls!” shrieked the older adult males.)
Long story short, I bought all the albums and kept hoping to see a reunion concert when I was old enough. That hope died on October 9, 1980, when I was watching MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL and announcer Howard Cosell announced to the world that John Lennon had been assassinated. It was all a blur after that.
Cut to the 1990’s and the Beatles announce the release of their ANTHOLOGY project. Of course I bought the CDs, the DVD set and the book. How could I not? Years later, after moving to California, I was able to see Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr in concert several times, each time its own unique event, especially at the concert Sir Paul put on at the SoFi Stadium in May 2022, when he did an encore performing with video of John Lennon that had been remastered by Peter Jackson for the GET BACK project. Tears were streaming down more than a few faces, including mine.
Cut to this past week and the release of what’s billed as the last Beatles song, NOW AND THEN. It was like a thunderclap. I hadn’t any idea this was a thing. The next thing I know, my son is sending me a link to a video of how this song came to be.
This wasn’t even the end product, just the story of how the song came to be, and already I found myself affected emotionally. Both the story and the song – after I saw the video a day later – struck chords of longing I had been repressing for a long time.
Currently, in addition to working on my projects and trying to have a family life, I am taking care of a friend in his last days. He’s not the first person I had to be there for at the end in a significant way, and I suspect he won’t be the last, but he’s one in a long line I had to be there for when they breathed their last breath, so I know loss. The first time I truly experienced it was when my father passed away as I sat next to his hospital bed. My mother was a mess, so I had to be the strong one over the next several days. (This whole sequence of events was what inspired the FATHER’S DAY story I wrote that was part of the overall MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER storyline.)
I found listening to the song NOW AND THEN a haunting, elegiac experience. This was the Beatles saying goodbye, an end point to all the joy they had given everyone for so many years. There would be no more.
But then came the comments and criticisms. The most enlightening I found was this one:
I also thought in many ways it got what the song was about. However much I enjoyed this particular analysis of the song, like many others, way too many others, it missed the actual point of the song.
This was never an attempt to compete with previous efforts. If anything, this is where the Beatles are now. We just missed out on all they could have accomplished in the intervening years, especially if John and George were still with us. Both Paul and Ringo clearly miss John and George and what they had together, and saw this as a way to end the Beatles on their own terms, not anyone else’s. The acrimony of their 1970 break-up was never the full story as we clearly saw in the GET BACK film. And if anyone had the right to take a John Lennon demo and turn it into one big heartfelt project, Paul and Ringo did. Especially Paul. He had been best friends with John and George ever since they were teenagers. They shared a life no one could ever fully grasp except the 4 Beatles themselves.
In reading the many comments of what people thought of the song, the reasons for its release, and so on, reminded me an awful lot of the comments I experienced over the years in taking my stories and characters I wrote for the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA series as the basis for my LARA-SU CHRONICLES. How dare I continue my stories without Sonic and Knuckles when what I wrote were clearly Sonic and Knuckles stories.
My answer to these critics is that my stories weren’t just Sonic and Knuckles stories, they were stories, period. There was a whole world of characters and events in which these two characters played a part, but the other characters were just as viable on their own without Sonic and Knuckles. And just like NOW AND THEN isn’t meant to compete with the entire Beatles catalog, THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES isn’t the last word on Sonic and Knuckles stories, or contradicts what came before. This is where the story continues on to lead to its inevitable end, just like NOW AND THEN puts the period to the story of the Beatles.
As for the people who claim NOW AND THEN is nothing more than a cash grab, people everywhere are able to enjoy the song and its making all for free however many times they want. That’s as far from a cash grab as one can get. If I was in the Beatles financial stratosphere, I could do the same thing with THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES. Since I still have to work for living, I have to charge the going rate. That’s life.
The other difference between NOW AND THEN and THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES from my own personal perspective is that at least two of the Beatles were there to see the end. I have no idea at this date if I will live to see the end of my project or if others will continue on in my stead. I hope I’m around, but if not, I hope I’m able to provide as complete a road map as possible for the full project to reach its final destination.
It’s been brought to my attention that some fans are concerned about being listed in the SPECIAL THANKS section of either THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS print edition or THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES App because they may go by one name for legal reasons and another out of personal preference but have yet to announce their preference in a more public manner.
I want to assure these fans that their privacy is completely respected, and should they opt to purchase the Lara-Su SURVIVE! T-shirt, Lara-Su Limited Edition Print or pre-order THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS – all items that would guarantee one’s name listed in the SPECIAL THANKS section of the book and app – all they need do when ordering is state in the section provided on the order page what name they prefer to see listed.
Nobody need know except the person ordering the items and myself.
Personally, it breaks my heart when I see someone not accepted by others they associate with for the person they are. I’ve experienced close friends awkwardly coming out wondering how my better half Bernadette and I are going to accept their news. Each time Bernie and I make it clear we love our family and friends no differently afterwards. If others have a problem, that’s their problem, not ours.
I’m still at work on material for THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS book as well as TL-SC App. From my perspective, it’s just trudging through writing and drawing, otherwise known as the same ol’ same ol’. Doing the work is nowhere near as glamorous as people imagine. If anything, one spends a lot of alone time and quite often the work itself is tedious much of the time. It’s when the work is finished that one can assess how successful or worth it was the effort put into the work.
The good news is I’m making significant progress to meeting my self-imposed deadline to completing the work in order to send the finished file to the printers.
The bad news is the remaining work is still time-consuming requiring a lot of effort on my part. It is what it is.
RIP Richard Roundtree AKA the original John Shaft. Like Sean Connery, the man was talented and had a long list of credits, but as Connery was THE definitive James Bond Agent 007, Roundtree remains the definitive John Shaft. Apologies to Samuel L Jackson fans, but Sam was only a pale imitation when compared to the original, and he more than most was aware of it as well.
I had the good fortune to be on set when Mr Roundtree was working on the last of 2 films he appeared in which have yet to be released. I was told he was not in the best of health at the time of filming, and witnessed all the precautions the production took to ensure he was protected and cared for during filming. The production was THELMA and he was shooting a sequence in a North Hollywood park along with actress June Squibb.
The film is currently in post-production and I’m looking forward to checking it out upon its release.
ITEM! My sympathies definitely go out to the people of Lewiston, MA as well as all those who lost loved ones in that horrific event, but you’ll excuse me if my concerns are more focused on the people of Gardner, MA, where my son and his family live. Police are searching for the man who killed his wife and is on the loose presumably armed and definitely dangerous. The killing was conducted less than a mile from where my son lives and the killer’s vehicle located not far from the vicinity as well.
I think it’s way past time we do something to get automatic weapons off of our streets as the ONLY purpose these weapons serve is to kill large numbers of people, period. Responsible hunters don’t use these weapons. If people feel the need to own a weapon, I see no reason why they can’t go through the same procedure one does through to obtain a driver’s license. I think I’m being more than fair when acknowledging someone’s right to own a weapon at this point.
One other point, I do believe in rescinding any protections weapons manufacturers currently enjoy from lawsuits. It’s probably the only way we’ll attain reasonable gun laws in this country.
To end on a more upbeat note, I’m taking a break later this evening to go root for my favorite team, none other than the Buffalo Bills on Amazon Prime. Win or lose, I’m with them all the way. Josh Allen is my QB and there’s nothing more exciting than when he connects with Stephon Diggs for the long play or the touchdown. It’s sheer poetry in motion. GO BILLS!
The picture above totally sums up the state of affairs currently evolving in the U.S. Congress on the Republican side. Whoever took this picture captured the moment perfectly as Gym Jordan loses the first round of votes to become Speaker of the House while his predecessor Qevin McCarthy (nicknames and spelling deliberately included) busts out laughing at the latest developments.
Following Gym Jordan’s tenure in Congress has not been a concern beyond observing what a pain in the ass he’s been to getting the business of America moving forward for the people’s interests. After learning he’s accomplished absolutely nothing of consequence during all that time beyond being a legislative terrorist, one has to question why the voters of his Congressional District keep returning him to office as he clearly hasn’t given a damn about them.
When I was growing up, even though Democrats were generally in the overwhelming majority, it was a given they weren’t going to accomplish anything of import without Republican buy-in. Back in the early 1970’s, as an example, in order to secure a majority of support from the voters, Nixon proposed what we know now as Obamacare, which is actually a version of Romneycare, which the people of the state of Massachusetts currently enjoy, which was still a version of what Nixon proposed. It would’ve become law were it not for the opposition of Senator Ted Kennedy, who was holding out for Universal Health Care. The results ended up being the perfect was the enemy of the good, and so health care in the USA suffered a major setback for decades until Speaker Pelosi and President Obama were able to pass the Affordable Health Care Act AKA Obamacare.
That is far from the only example, but the point is this: America has been able to make progress because of compromise. Not everyone gets everything they want, but the ball is able to be moved forward.
Voters had essentially handed the keys to Democrats for 40 years, essentially resulting in one of most prosperous times the country as a whole experienced, which resulted in the building and strengthening of the middle class.
Little noticed during that time were the results of President Johnson’s signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, in which he predicted the South would shift away from Democrats. Up until Richard Nixon’s run for the Presidency in 1968, Republicans were generally regarded as the party of and for rich white guys, but Nixon was more than happy to welcome Democrats unhappy with granting equal rights to minorities into the fold. It also didn’t hurt that Alabama Governor George Wallace’s open appeal to racists everywhere with the platform of sending Black Americans back to Africa made Nixon seem all the more like a reasonable alternative to vote for.
Wallace was essentially Trump before there was a Trump with his open racism, and would go on to win the electoral votes of 5 southern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi – and thus cleave the Democratic Party in half. Nixon was only too happy to exploit this division while appearing to be a moderate in his presentation. Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee, never really stood a chance, having been so closely aligned with President Johnson’s prosecution of the Vietnam War.
Since that time, Republicans have only been more than willing to exploit those divisions, building upon the foundation already laid down, taking advantage through the appointment of Supreme Court Justices to forward a “conservative” agenda, which also resulted in a selection of the Supreme Court’s preferred candidate George W. Bush as opposed to allowing the counting of actual ballots in the state of Florida to determine the actual electoral victor.
As I write this, Gym Jordan has suffered a second humiliating defeat in his quest for the speaker, and throwing his support to making Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry the Acting Speaker until January. Whether this happens is anyone’s guess.
I myself have always held interest in America’s history and how it’s run ever since I can remember. I was aware of JFK’s assassination and witnessed Lee Harvey Oswald gunned down on live television. The Vietnam War played out in our home on the nightly news. As I and my friends morphed into teenagers, we began discussing what we would do if handed our draft notices. The thought of moving to Canada didn’t seem so out of the realm of possibility among us.
After I graduated High School, there was no more draft, but as I or my parents couldn’t afford my college tuition, the military suddenly became a viable option to achieving further education.
During that time, while serving in the US Air Force, I became aware of just how diverse our country was in a way it wasn’t possible to experience while living in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY back then. I worked alongside members of the Iranian military assigned to our base on temporary duty while following the 1976 Presidential Election, voting for the first time for Jimmy Carter to be my Commander-In-Chief over Gerald Ford. (No one I worked with was voting for Gerald Ford as he was the one who pardoned Richard Nixon. Besides, I was stationed at Hanscom AFB located in Massachusetts, which was noted as being the only state which hadn’t voted for Nixon in the 1972 election.)
I’ve self-identified as a progressive Democratic voter, preferring the term Liberal these days, not that I consider myself partisan. It’s just that Republicans don’t give me much of a choice. I resent the inclusion of religion in our politics as I firmly believe that’s a private matter between an individual and the deity of their choice. I also believe a woman’s decision regarding abortion is between her and her doctor and that politics should play no role other than insuring the procedure is completely legal. And I also believe everyone has a right to love who they want as long as it’s consensual.
While I would ban guns completely, I recognize that’s not possible, so I can live with gun ownership provided the process is handled the same as if applying for a driver’s license. The only guns I would outright ban for civilian use is the automatic weapons more suitable for the military.
Unlike today’s politicians, especially those who can be bought and sold wholesale, my beliefs are the result of my Catholic school upbringing, my parents, my Great Aunt Francis and my Grandmother Florence, who taught me fairness and doing what’s right. It’s not easy but I do my best.
The best sign of hope I’ve found for our world is the recent election conducted in the land of my ancestors, Poland, which voted in favor of Democracy over Authoritarianism. That vindicated my belief in the people living there with whom I’ve shared experiences and communication with. There are good people out there.
