dfrey

26 Jul, 2022

Blog

A few times a year, something I write winds up in the Omaha World-Herald, our local newspaper here in Omaha. It’s the leading newspaper in Nebraska, and has a steadfast reputation as a moderately conservative publication. What this means in today’s terms, of course, is that Far-Right MAGA and Q-Anon types think it’s just this side of The Communist Manifesto.

Sorry, it’s still a fairly conservative paper. Nonetheless, they’ll still publish guest articles by people like me, especially when they speak to issues that are in the headlines. So here it is, pretty much as printed, with just a couple of additions:

CARRY A GUN AND DON’T WEAR A SEATBELT

July 26, 2022

The author is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the Creighton University School of Medicine, and the author of “Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later: One Physician’s Guided Tour Through an Insane Asylum Called American Health Care.” This article represents the author’s personal views and are not necessarily those of Creighton University.

Much as this may shock younger readers, there was a time, some forty years ago, when seatbelt laws were controversial. The notion that the evil government, whether national, state, or local, would “mandate” seatbelts was viewed by some as one step away from communism.

Just as we’ve seen many times since, the issue of “you can’t tell me what to do!” was way more important than “what’s the right thing do?”

Some people wouldn’t admit to opposing seatbelt laws from a personal standpoint. Instead, they needed a different excuse–seatbelts weren’t just ineffective, they were dangerous.

Here was their claim. They knew somebody who knew somebody who’d been in an auto accident. At the moment of impact, just before the car burst into flames, the driver had been thrown safely out of the vehicle and landed at a safe distance. There, they watched as their car exploded before their eyes.

The person telling the story would then lean forward, scowl and say, “and you know, if that guy had been wearing a seat belt, he’d be dead! Burned alive! That’s why I’ll never wear a seatbelt.”

Did this actually happen? Who knows? If the window had been open (and it must have been a mighty big window), the exit angle perfect, and the ground about as soft as a pile of compost, maybe.

Don’t get me wrong. Anything is possible. Wherever you’re reading this right now, a piano might come falling out of the sky and land on your head. But it’s pretty unlikely.

Today we know from years of experience that if deaths have occurred from wearing a seatbelt, those numbers are far fewer than the lives saved by seatbelts. The evidence is so compelling that even those who’d sworn they’d never wear one now strap one on without a second thought.

All of this should come to mind when considering America’s last mass shooting (at the rate we’re going, there’ll be plenty more by the time this is printed). A gun-carrying citizen killed the shooter in an Indiana mall. The young man who stopped the shooter was praised.

Gun advocates were quick in their response. “You see! The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!”

The facts tell a different story.

According to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, fewer than 3% of all active shooter incidents over the past 20 years ended with a civilian firing back. The incident in Indiana, along with the tragic mass shooting in Superior, Nebraska, are exceptions rather than the rule.

The notion that if everyone runs around packing a firearm we’ll all somehow be safer doesn’t hold water. Weapons don’t fire themselves. They’re fired by human beings. And if you’ve been around as long as I have, you know human beings do some incredibly stupid things.

I grew up around guns in rural Missouri. They were no big deal one way or the other. But no one thought of carrying them in malls, grocery stores, churches, or restaurants. Back then, if you insulted someone, cut somebody off in traffic, or otherwise crossed someone, the worst you’d wind up with was a bloody nose or busted lip. People usually cooled off, shook hands, and moved on.

That doesn’t happen when a gun’s involved.

Let’s be honest. Most shootings occur because good, upstanding, law-abiding citizens are placed in overwhelmingly stressful situations. They lose their job. Their spouse cheats. Their partner leaves. Someone cuts them off. They think someone has ripped them off.

Maybe they just see a stranger’s face at the door. . .

Put a gun in the mix, and you know what comes next. It happens every day.

Yes, mental health is important, and desperately needs more resources. But it’s not the primary cause of gun violence. A recent Public Pulse writer lamented the fact that suicide is now the third leading cause of death among American young people.

The number one cause? Gunshot wounds.

Despite what many would like to believe, this isn’t because American kids are somehow different. Throughout the developed world, young people watch the same television, the same movies, play the same video games, and listen to the same music. They’re wracked with the same self-doubts, subjected to the same bullying, and feel the same need to prove themselves.

They just don’t kill each other nearly as often.

So if you carry a firearm, at least know the facts. Yes, there’s always a tiny chance you may use it to take out a “bad-guy.” But you are much more likely to use that gun—intentionally or unintentionally—on yourself, a family member, or someone you know.

That’s not being anti-gun. That’s just being factual.

And while you’re at it, you can go without wearing a seatbelt, too. There’s always that slim chance you’ll get thrown out the window. But don’t count on it.

The only difference is, by not wearing the seatbelt, the only one who gets hurt is you.

Midlands Voices: Carry a gun and don’t wear a seatbelt | Columnists | omaha.com

dfrey

17 Jul, 2022

Blog

THE DAY I MET CLARENCE THOMAS

Imagine for a moment you’re a baseball player at third base. Your take your lead. The batter hits the ball deep to the hole at shortstop, and you break for home. The throw comes in and you slide under the catcher’s tag.

“Out!” The umpire yells.

You’re baffled and angry. You knew you were safe. Later, someone tells you the umpire had already pumped his fist before the ball even got to the plate. “He’d already made the call,” your friend says. “Whether you were really safe didn’t matter. He’d made up his mind before you were even there.”

I can think of no better analogy to describe the recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. In theory, the Court is supposed to be like an umpire. When a case is heard, they use the Constitution as a strike zone to call balls and strikes. The whole thing should be fair, honest, and above-board.

Here’s the problem. Depending on the Court’s political make-up, they can change the strike zone at will. How they interpret the Constitution can vary wildly. Depending on their purely ideological views, they may call a pitch down the middle of the plate a ball, and one thrown at your head a strike.

Recently, the Court has overturned 50 years of precedent, and allowed state governments to dictate the practice of women’s health care. Common sense environmental protections have been scrapped. The Voting Rights Act has been gutted. Thomas Jefferson’s dream of separation of church and state has been mocked (do you really think that if a coach had been fired for a post-game Muslim prayer the Court would have done anything?). Guns are more important than dead babies. Elections can now be bought, sold, and traded like baseball cards.

And in poll after poll, each of these decisions was contrary to the wishes of the American people.

Strike three, American values. You’re out and the inning is over. Next batter—a radical right-wing agenda. And now the strike zone changes.

So maybe I should go ahead and talk about the title of this post. For over 30 years, Justice Clarence Thomas has carved out an ever-widening record of judicial extremism. And for just a few moments, our paths crossed.

Here’s the story.

When I was a Creighton Vice-President, I had a monthly meeting with the University President in his office (of course it was “his” office—Creighton has never had a woman President, because women can’t become Jesuit priests—don’t get me started). To get to the office, I had to climb a couple hundred stairsteps. I was running late one morning, as usual, and chugged up the last few steps.

In the hallway was a very large, imposing man in an expensive suit, walking slowly along while he glanced about. I wondered for moment if he might be lost, so I said “Hi, can I help you find anything?”

He just stared at me for a few seconds, then kept on walking. I came close to saying, “OK, be an asshole,” but held my tongue. In retrospect it was probably a good thing.

I had my meeting with the President, then walked back out into the reception area. Several people were crowded around a little round guy with a big smile, who was standing next to a primly-dressed woman, who was gazing around the room with a plastered-on prom-queen-candidate grin. She looked to be at least a foot taller than the little round guy.

A woman from the University’s Public Relations office stepped forward and said, “this is Dr. Frey, our Vice President for Health Sciences. Dr. Frey, I’d like to introduce Justice and Ms. Clarence Thomas.”

I was taken aback. I’d never been introduced to anyone famous before, and figured it probably wouldn’t happen again (been right so far). I smiled and said “good to meet you” or something like that.

I must say Thomas was very engaging at first. He had a warm smile, and said something like, “health sciences? A lot going on in health care now.”

I smiled and sighed, “Oh, yeah, there’s a lot we’re dealing with right now.” I was thinking about our medical school, which had been losing money for years, and had recently merged with another local health system. The whole thing had been a colossal struggle.

But Thomas was thinking of something else. He smiled even more broadly, leaned forward and said, “yeah a lot more ‘regs now, right?” At that point, it hit me that he was actually talking about the recently passed Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), for which the Justice would later use every conceivable legal excuse to overturn. I was a little taken aback.

“Well, yeah, I suppose,” I shrugged. “But at least 20 million Americans have health care coverage now who didn’t have it just a few years ago.”

I could tell right away it was the wrong thing to say. Immediately, Thomas’s body stiffened, his smile evaporated, and he glared at me like I’d just puked on his shoes. There was an awkward moment of silence, then I mumbled something like “well, good to meet you, sir, enjoy your time at Creighton,” or something equally lame.

I was headed toward the door when I noticed the same big imposing dude in the expensive suit (now recognizable as a Thomas bodyguard) standing off in the corner staring at me. As I walked past, I wanted to say, “yeah, you and the horse you rode in on, pal,” but didn’t.

All of that was years ago. Since that time, the United States Supreme Court, already lurching toward the right, has veered headlong into far-right extremism. And at every turn, Justice Thomas has been the most extreme of the extreme.

Perhaps we should change the name of the body from the Supreme Court to the Extreme Court.

In the recent decision that struck down Roe v. Wade (known in legal circles as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health), Thomas opined that the Court’s decision could also set the stage for states banning gay marriage and making contraception illegal. Apparently, in his view, those would be good things.

So how did we wind up with a situation where nine individuals, whose elitist backgrounds (all are graduates of either Harvard or Yale Law School) give them the intellectual tools to twist the Constitution into supporting any of their own political beliefs, and effectively overturn anything Congress or the President decides?

Our nation was built around the concept of separation of powers. The Executive branch, headed by the President, the Legislative branch, headed by Congress, and the Judicial, with the Supreme Court squarely at the top, were meant to “check and balance” one another, like a three-legged chair.

But what happens when one of those legs gets out of balance? The chair begins to totter, and ultimately collapses. And anyone watching the Supreme Court can see the collapse coming.

With nine Justices, the opinions (and political views) of just five individuals can overturn any law passed by the people. That’s exactly what’s happening.

The Constitution provides for a Supreme Court, but doesn’t specify the number of Justices. The number nine has been around for years, but certainly isn’t sacred (despite what conservatives may insist). The most serious flaw codified in the Constitution, though, has nothing to do with the Court’s size. It’s the term of the Justices.

They serve for life, which wasn’t such a big deal when life expectancy in this country was 38 years (as it was in 1776). But it sure is now.

Appoint a Justice in his or her 40’s today, and you’ll lock in a political view for the next 40-50 years, no matter how the people vote. And appoint three and you can pretty much determine the Court’s temperament (and, bluntly, their decisions) for the next two generations. No election required.

So when does a replacement happen? When a Justice retires or dies, which is purely the luck of the draw. With our current life expectancy, it’s happening less and less often. And if the Senate refuses to even consider a nominee? It gives the next President even more power (feel free to Google “Moscow Mitch McConnell” if you need a reminder).

This, of course, is what occurred under Donald Trump, a president that more Americans voted against than for. Three hard-right appointments were made, joining the existing above-named Thomas, as well as two other right-wing Justices who’d been appointed by another president who’d also failed to win the popular vote.

In blunt terms, these six individuals have more impact on lurching our nation away from its values than anyone—including the President.

But how did these people get approved by the Senate? Basically, by lying.

Time and time again, during their confirmation hearings, the recent appointees described Roe v. Wade as the “law of the land” which should stand. But in truth, they were chomping at the bit to overturn it.

What else were they lying about? Who knows?

I’ve discussed my concerns about the abortion decision earlier, but my friend and colleague Dr. Josh Freeman perhaps described it best. “Make no mistake: this Supreme Court decision is that the opinions of some people are worth more than the lives of others”

To say America is getting fed up with all of this would be an understatement. Much has been written about the low approval ratings of the current President, which stand at 39%. What many don’t realize is that the approval of the Supreme Court has plummeted to 40%.

That’s right. The Supreme Court is now as popular as Joe Biden.

You can vote Joe Biden out of office, if you’d like. But the Supreme Court? Sorry, you’re stuck with them for life.

In response to the Court’s abortion decision, the White House issued a rule that requires States to make abortion available in medical emergencies (i.e., to save the life of the mother).

This of course, has made several far-right Attorney’s General furious. They’ve sued to stop it. And they may get a test case soon from Indiana.

You’ve probably read about it. A young girl just shy of her tenth birthday was raped in Ohio (despite what FOX News initially claimed) and became pregnant. The child travelled to Indiana, where an abortion was performed.

For anyone who wasn’t paying attention in high school science class, a ten-year-old girl’s body is not meant to carry a baby. Complications can be disastrous. If there’s ever a circumstance where even the most rigid abortion opponent should realize that an abortion is necessary, this is it.

Of course, this apparently doesn’t apply to the Attorney’s General of Indiana and Ohio, who are more intent on investigating the Doctor who performed the procedure than anyone else. It’s likely legal action could be taken against the physician. If this occurs, the decision could possibly wind up before the Supreme Court.

Will the Court look that little girl in the eye, tell her that her pregnancy was just her tough luck, then punish the Doctor, setting a precedent that could affect all future childhood rape victims? Who knows?

But given the veracity of the Court’s recent decisions, I’m not optimistic for that little girl.

So what happens next? Expanding the Court should certainly be considered, but term limits for each Justice should absolutely be at the top of any reform proposal. The original Constitution set no term limits for the office of President. It wasn’t until the Twenty-Second Amendment that the current two-term designation came into place. Currently, a national effort is under way to pass such an Amendment limiting Congressional terms, as well.

Fine. But if you’re going to limit two legs of our three-legged chair of checks and balances, you sure as hell should be doing the same for the remaining leg—the Supreme Court.

Currently, nine individuals are effectively determining the laws of this country, under the guise of “interpreting” our laws. And some of those individuals will continue their assault on democracy for decades. No matter your political views, this does not bode well for American democracy.

Sooner or later, a current Justice will resign or croak. When that happens, the makeup of the United States Senate and White House will determine whether American justice begins to move back toward a well-reasoned center, or continues its lurch toward a nationalistic and fascist right.

So vote. Vote like your life depends on it. Because it does.

Oh, and one other thing. That primly dressed woman with the plastered-on-smile I mentioned earlier? She’s better known as Ginni Thomas. As wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, she has immediate access to one-ninth of that all-powerful Court, and is considered a cornerstone in a violent, far-right movement that has been labeled “Christian Nationalism.” She actively worked to overturn a democratic election, texted her “love” for the insurrectionist mob attacking our capitol, and supported a far-right coup against the American government. She even invoked the name of God to justify her actions.

Apparently, her view of Christianity doesn’t include Exodus 20:7.

dfrey

7 Jul, 2022

Blog

FORWORD

Several people have asked if I’m going to write my thoughts on the most recent decisions of the unSupreme Court, which included abandoning women’s rights, giving a thumbs-up to destroying the environment, and allowing just about anyone to carry any gun anywhere at any time (just days after a mass murder of children in Texas). I’ll have plenty to say about all of that later.

In the meantime, if you’d like to read an incredibly insightful commentary on the Court’s decision, check out Dr. Josh Freeman’s blog post Abortion is health care. It must be safe and legal. Josh was the Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas for many years. He’s seen more in his time than I’ve seen in mine. He knows what he’s talking about.

But I’ve been promising to announce the winner of America’s Dumbest State award for some time. So here it is. And if you are from this state, I apologize. But I’m afraid there’s not much in the post below that isn’t accurate.

AND THE WINNER OF AMERICA’S DUMBEST STATE IS. . .

First, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not speaking from the standpoint of self-righteousness. I was born in Kansas, a state where the legislature massively slashed taxes, blindly assuming that it would bring progress and prosperity to everyone. Instead, it wound up nearly destroying their public schools.

Ultimately, even a decidedly conservative legislature had no choice but to undo all of the tax cuts.

I was raised in Missouri, whose legislature nearly passed a bill prohibiting doctors from performing surgery on women with ectopic pregnancies, since the embryo might be “alive.” For the record, the mortality rate for women with untreated ectopic pregnancies is 100%.

I currently live in Nebraska, where its billionaire Governor (daddy’s money) was recently locked in a no-holds-barred, multi-million-dollar campaign with a billionaire ex-President (also daddy’s money, for the most part) to see whose far-right flunky would be nominated as the state’s next governor (hint: the ex-president lost).

So it’s not like I’m associated with states that are paragons of reasoned thought. However, if we look at our nation, state by state, and consider the really stupid things that have been done, one stands out.

Let’s take a look at how that state might describe itself.

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM OF THE GREAT STATE OF FLORIDA

Welcome to Florida—The Stupid State!

Hello everyone. We know that many of you may be more accustomed to our previous slogan, The Sunshine State. But that’s so yesterday. We wanted a new slogan, one that really represents what we’re all about down here.

And let’s face it—wisdom and knowledge are really overrated! Ignorance is bliss, so they say, and on behalf of our great Governor, Ron DeSantis, we’d like to welcome you to the most blissful state in America.

Take education, for example. It’s not what you learn that’s important, it’s what you don’t learn that really matters!

Yes, we’re talking about sex and race. We’ve been at the forefront of the “Don’t Say Gay” movement in our schools. And we’re so adamant that critical race theory can’t be discussed, we’ve insured that virtually any discussion of race can be grounds for prosecution. We make sure our students are protected from any of this stuff.

It’s not that we’re opposed to sex education, it’s just that it must be done the right way. That means abstinence only education. And that’s what we teach our students. None of that talk about those heathen contraception methods—we just tell kids to refrain from sex. And we’re sure that approach works. Yes, we know those communist public health people point out that we’re in the top 10 states when it comes to teenage pregnancies. But what do they know? We think we’re doing just fine.

Oh, and then there’s science. Yeah, maybe kids should learn about gravity, but that’s about it. Here in Florida, we have laws in place that allow parents to challenge schools over teaching irrelevant facts about climate change, evolution, and atheist stuff like quantum physics. We protect our children! Why, we even banned over fifty math books. You can’t get any more stupid than that!

We’re also home to the Centner Academy, a private institution founded by a multi-billionaire to indoctrinate—uh, we mean educate—well-off youngsters. The Academy bans masks, isolates students who’ve been vaccinated for COVID (even though they’re not infective and can’t harm other children), refuses to hire teachers who’ve been vaccinated, and has special window coverings to protect kids from evil 5-G waves. Yes, we know many of their former teachers describe the Academy as basically a cult. But Governor DeSantis supports it! And that’s good enough for us! After all, if you’re paying upwards of $30,000 a year to send your little Johnny or Suzie here, you ought to make sure they only learn what you want, right?

And speaking of COVID, there’s no question we’ve had the greatest response of any state in the country. Unlike those liberal wussies in California, we’ve refused to mandate masks and vaccines, refused to shut down any place of business, and we’ve done just fine. OK, there’s that little detail about having a mortality rate 50% higher than California, as well as having our hospitals overflowing with COVID cases, especially our ICUs. But it’s like guns, it’s just the small price we pay for our freedoms.

So we’ve installed an anti-vaxxer, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, as State Surgeon General, and he’s making sure Governor DeSantis’ policies are being carried out. And not just with COVID. Vaccinations of all types are down throughout the state. If that’s not a great example of personal freedom, what is? And if we wind up with more sick babies, well, we’ve got plenty of doctors. Or at least we did.

But since we’ve mentioned guns, let’s talk about them, too. We’re one of the most gun friendly states in America, and damned proud of it. Come to Florida, and you can defend yourself—no questions asked! Since passing our “stand your ground” law in 2005, gun deaths in our state are up by over 32%. Yes, there was that incident where a gun toting neighborhood vigilante stalked an unarmed black man for blocks before shooting him dead, but what do you expect? He was wearing a hoodie, for God’s sake! And the jury certainly wasn’t impressed.

And that theatre situation—the one where two people were arguing, and one threw a bag of popcorn at the other, who in turn pulled a gun and shot the first man dead in front of his family? That popcorn might have had anthrax, or even AIDS! Besides, another jury of our finest citizens found that shooter innocent, too, so what’s the big deal?

A few years back, our legislature even passed a bill that said any doctor who asked a parent if they had a gun in the house could be prosecuted (stupid doctors, thinking a child who finds a loaded gun might actually hurt themselves!). But to our utter shock, some left-wing judge said the law violated free speech. What’s this nation coming to, when doctors can actually ask questions?

So come to Florida and bring your guns! We won’t mind if you use them. And if anyone says anything, just tell them you’re “a good guy.”

But if you’re thinking of opening or moving a business here, remember this. We don’t want our businesses expressing any political opinions—especially one that disagrees with our esteemed Governor. We revoked Disney’s special tax status because they expressed displeasure with our “don’t say gay” laws. Yes, that dumped over a billion dollars in bond debt on the people of the Orlando region, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

And those sissy Tampa Bay Rays? Speaking out about gun violence and children being killed! Who cares? In any case, we shut them down right away by threatening to pull the funding for a sports facility. Next time they’ll know better, and act the way true Florida athletes should—just sing the National Anthem, play ball, and shut up.

But what we’re most proud of is our handling of the Special Olympics. The organization was going to hold its 2022 Games in Orlando, and had the audacity to require its athletes to be vaccinated against COVID! As we’ve said, we don’t care what science says, we don’t tolerate mandates! Who cares if some of those kids might be immune compromised and COVID might kill them? That’s their problem, not ours!

So we threatened Special Olympics with a $27.5 million fine, and boy did that ever shut those little brats down! Oh, the liberal media made a big fuss about it, calling us callous and uncaring. But we don’t care.

Because we’re Florida. We don’t have to.

So come on down and move your business to Florida, we’d love to have you. Just make sure you keep your mouth shut after you get here.

And don’t believe everything you hear about us when it comes to school shootings, either. We know what’s really important—mental health. It’s just that we don’t want to pay for it. Yes, we’ve been ranked 49^th out of all 50 states when it comes mental health funding per capita. But that’s not what’s important. Our hearts are in the right place. And more importantly, our guns are everywhere.

And we know how to handle voting, too. No voter fraud here, because there won’t be that many votes! We’ve made it legal for partisan election “observers” to operate inside polling places, reduced the number of ballot drop boxes, more than doubled the red-tape involved in requesting a mail-in ballot, and now require more rigid voter ID laws than ever before. Will this make it more difficult for the poor and elderly to vote? Who cares?

We’ve also recently passed a bill that would make it illegal to transport undocumented people within Florida. Yes, we know there are thousands of law-abiding essential workers in our state that this would impact, but again, that’s not our problem. We don’t want immigrants here. Keep Florida white! And forget all those studies that show that U.S. citizens are more than twice as likely to commit crimes as immigrants. We don’t have time for pesky facts.

There was a time when we welcomed all those fleeing violence in Cuba to our state. But now it’s time to slam the door on all that.

What more can you ask for when it comes to Stupid? We’re the nation’s role model. And to let you in on our special secret, we think our wonderful Governor, Ron DeSantis will be the Republican nominee for president in 2024. Then, all of the incredible things happening in Florida can be available to the entire nation!

So, while you’re visiting, pull up a chair, grab a drink, and settle in on the beach (with your gun, of course). Relax, take it easy, and don’t worry about thinking.

After all, you’re in Florida. The Stupid State.

dfrey

21 Jun, 2022

Blog

TIME

My Editor has informed me that many of my recent posts have been extremely sarcastic, snarky, and at times, belittling. This was immediately after I’d finished a new piece describing what I consider to be the dumbest state in the union, and just before I started writing another on the issue that concerns America the most—not education, health care, nor even national security. Rather, the price of gasoline.

It was going to be a little sarcastic, too.

“Don’t you think you ought to stop all of this sarcasm for a while?” The Editor asked. “You’re coming across like a complete asshole.”

“Well, sometimes I am an asshole,” I said. “Besides, these are important issues. And I’m not really writing in my own voice. It’s in the voice of someone promoting these crazy beliefs.”

“Fine, write about that stuff later, if you want. But why don’t you just take a break and write something nice for a change? Something in your own voice.”

She’s probably right. So the Dumbest State in America Award, and the What We Get Wrong About Gas Prices essay will have to wait. In the meantime, maybe I can reflect on something else.

TIME HAS COME TODAY

As some of you know, teaching and practicing Geriatrics has been a big part of my life. There was a time when I could quote all sorts of facts and figures about the impact of aging on the human mind and body. I talked about this stuff with students for decades. But I’d never experienced it first-hand.

Until now.

For those of you who haven’t made it this far, 70 is a strange age. You know you’re certainly not young anymore, and the deterioration in your body—eyes, skin, hearing, joints, bones and muscle—becomes more evident each day.

A lot of your friends didn’t make it this far. Good people, every bit as vibrant, active, and funny as you. Gone, for no apparent reason. You can try to understand it. But think about it too long and it’ll only makes you nuts.

The world around you seems pretty nuts, too. Advertisements for incontinence products flood the media, interspersed with those for anti-aging cosmetics. People who look no different than you are featured in commercials for Long Term Care facilities, while Elon Musk’s 74-year-old mother poses as a swimsuit model.

You know people who run marathons, and others who have to use walkers.

The whole world’s a garbled stew of mixed messages. You’re old, but you’re not really old. Relax, take it easy, you’ve got plenty of time now. No, make plans, hurry, the clock’s ticking.

How do you make sense of it all?

“Every gambler knows/The secret to survivin’/Is knownin’ what to throw away/knowin’ what to keep.”

The poet Carl Sandburg once observed that his life had been a succession of giving things up. “When I was 40, I gave up playing baseball. At 50, running up the stairs two steps at a time. At 60, it was cigars. At 70, I gave up whiskey.”

By 70, you understand this all too well. I’ve already given up many things I’ve dreamed of, and, and if you’re honest, so have you.

Even though I ran head-to-head with Bruce Jenner in college, by the time he was winning the Gold Medal in Montreal, I realized I was never going to make it to the Olympics. Later, I accepted the fact that I was never going to climb Mount Everest, win a Nobel Prize, or become President, either.

Kenny Rogers was right—you have to know what to throw away and what to keep, whether it’s cards or dreams. At first, it’s easy. But as you hit 70, it gets a lot more difficult.

Old dreams have evolved into new ones. Which of those do you keep? Which do you let go? Are new dreams even possible now? Can you do something that might outlast you?

For those fortunate enough to have enjoyed good health most of their lives, the rapid aging that comes at 70 seems shocking at first. The fact that your body is now breaking down seems wrong. But you see it happening before your eyes. And you feel it.

Perhaps most confusing of all, is the acceleration of it all. Once the process starts, it picks up steam. Well into the 60’s, you may feel no change at all. But once it begins—the changes in skin, joints, and muscle—it moves rapidly. Of course, you can exercise, adjust your diet, do all of the things those doctor-types have always told you to do. But what you could quickly regain just a few years earlier now is out of reach.

You can get angry about this if you want. You can claim it’s not fair. You can desperately throw yourself into hedonistic pleasure-seeking in a crazy attempt to deny that it’s really happening to you.

Or you can accept it as part of life, and understand that everyone who came before you experienced it, and so too will all who come after you.

The concept of past and future is suddenly thrown into upheaval. Statistics show that if an American successfully navigates life to age 70, he can expect to live an average of another 14 years—or she can expect another 16 years. Auto accidents, gunshot wounds, and overdoses don’t happen nearly as often in those 70 and older, even as physical ailments increase.

But even under the best of circumstances, another 20 years is extremely fortunate, and another 30 is pretty much pushing it to the max. What this means is that at age 70 the vast majority of your life is now over, and if there is something you value, something important, you can’t just say “well, someday when I’m older.”

Sorry, you’re already old.

All of this, of course, can play with your head. It seems like just yesterday you were 50 (never mind 30 or 40), but it was actually 20 years ago. But in another 20, if you’re still around, you’ll be 90.

I can remember when I was younger, 20 years seemed like an eternity. Now, the years fly by faster and faster.

You begin to consider what you’ve done. Are there things I need to undo? Wrongs I need to right?

More importantly, are there things that bother the hell out of me that I should just toss away and forget about, along with the cards of unrealized dreams?

“ ’Cause every hand’s a winner/And every hand’s a loser/And the best you can hope for/Is to die in your sleep.”

Much about 70, though, is like any other point in life. You realize how much more fortunate you are than so many others, regardless of how advertisers and politicians try to manipulate you into feeling anger, jealousy, and resentment towards those who might have a little more than you.

You accept the physical limitations that you can’t change (I have a bunch of plastic and metal where my actual knees should be, and will never be able to run again) and try to focus on what you can do differently (like ride a bike, for the first time in years). You focus on the lessons you learn from the past, and try to be realistic about putting those lessons to use in the time you have left.

The whole notion that older people are some sort of “sages,” that there is some kind of “wisdom” that comes with aging, is frankly ridiculous. I don’t feel a damn bit smarter than I did when I was young. I’ve just had time to make a lot more mistakes. I’ve learned from them. I just wish others would learn, too.

I think most everyone in my age group who reads this can relate. People are no different the world over. We’ve all done a lot of things we can be proud of, and a lot of things we should be embarrassed by. The key is what are we going to do with whatever time we I have left?

I’m OK with that. I hope you are, too.

Interestingly, I’m more concerned about the future of the world today than when I was 30. Does some ego-driven politician want to start a war, blow-up the world, ruin the environment, destroy civilization? Why should I care? I sure as hell don’t have that much time left, anyway. Why should it bother me?

But it does. It bothers me a lot. I have kids. I have grandchildren. And the notion that someone wants to jeopardize their future just to make a fast buck or con people out of their votes makes me furious.

It’s the reason I write this blog in the first place.

And for those of you in a younger generation who might be reading this, let me assure you, the aging thing isn’t all that bad. It really isn’t. You’ll get there, too. All in due time. In the meantime, in the words of Kenny Rogers, perhaps I’ve given you an ace that you can keep.

“You got to know when to hold ‘em/Know when to fold ‘em/Know when to walk away/Know when to run/

“You never count your money/When you’re sittin’ at the table/There’ll be time enough for countin’/When the dealings done.”

Thanks for listening, and stay safe. See you down the road.

Further reflection (and listening):

dfrey

1 Jun, 2022

Blog

AN AMERICAN HORROR STORY

“Well, it couldn’t be any worse than. . .”

Whenever I hear someone use this phrase, I cringe. In my experience, if all someone can say in defense of their statements is “well, it couldn’t be any worse than—” they really don’t have much of an argument.

And second, most of the time it actually could be worse—a lot worse.

This is true of countries as well as people. In America, we tend to have a pretty high opinion of ourselves. And in my lifetime, some of the dumbest things we’ve ever done have been justified on the basis of the “it couldn’t be any worse than. . .” principle.

Today, America and the world face incredible challenges. Some people hate Joe Biden and the ground he walks upon. They never cease to talk about how much better things would be if Donald Trump were still in office.

When I disagree, they respond with “how could things possibly be any worse?”

With apologies to students of quantum physics, where complex formulas suggest parallel universes and realities, let’s take a moment and visit such a parallel world where Donald Trump is still in office.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

MAY 32, 2022

Greetings from the administration of President Donald J. Trump! We know the people of the United States have many concerns, but rest assured these issues will soon be resolved and America will again be moving forward toward Greatness.

Since the brave patriots stormed the capitol on Patriot Day, January 6, 2021 and made sure the stolen election was overturned, President Trump has been busy moving our nation forward. In addition to jailing senior Democratic leadership and installing Tucker Carlson as Secretary of the newly created Department of Information, he is tackling America’s challenges head on.

Let’s review them. And remember, all of this would be so much worse if Biden had been installed as President.

UKRAINE

Thanks to President Trump, there is peace in Ukraine. Soon after the Russian liberation of Ukraine began, our President made it clear to NATO that we stood steadfast with our friend President Putin, and would tolerate no interference.

Ukraine was quickly liberated, and their clown-President Volodymr Zelenskyy was executed. Next month President Trump will travel to Kyiv to congratulate President Putin as the traitorous Ukrainian government formally surrenders to the Russian Republic.

As you may know, illegal and banned news sources have been reporting lies and distortions about the treatment of captured Ukrainian soldiers, claiming they are being starved, murdered, and tortured. These treasonous sources even claim that Russian soldiers have raped and killed Ukrainian civilians. Rest assured, President Putin has made it clear to our State Department that nothing of this sort has occurred, and as we know, President Trump trusts President Putin completely.

As you are also aware, the United States is withdrawing from NATO. There is no reason for this organization to even exist now that a powerful American-Russian-Hungarian partnership is in place. However, if the rest of Europe wishes to “go it alone,” let them.

AFGHANISTAN

As you know, thanks to the brilliant decision making of President Trump, all U.S troops were secretly withdrawn from Afghanistan between 0200 and 0500 hours last August 29, with no troop casualties. This was an incredible feat. Once again, the illegal and traitorous press has made much of the numerous massacres of American Aid workers and others who were unable to get out after our troops had left, but this was not our fault! Those people should never have been there to begin with! We cannot be responsible for everything and everyone. Yes, they were U.S. citizens, but these things happen sometimes. America first. We all have the choice to stay at home.

CHINA

The U.S. Stand-Our-Ground China policy, much criticized by the rest of the world, will have a great effect. We have shut down all trade with China, and we are sure this will bring them to their knees. In addition, we have announced that we will soon be placing tariffs on any nation doing business with China.

As every American knows, China is the root of all evil in this world, and must be isolated. This may mean some temporary economic pain, but we will recover. We are confident that the current trade relationships between China and the rest of the world will quickly disappear if we hold firm with our tariffs and embargos. Temporary high prices will only be a reality for a short while. We are confident China will not develop trade relationships elsewhere. And no matter what you hear, this will not cause a recession!

THE ECONOMY

First, let’s talk about the good news. Corporate profits are through the ceiling, and this is by far the most important measure of any economy. We are quite confident that wages, which have lagged behind inflation, will soon catch up.

Much of our temporary economic challenges are due to supply chain issues, which would be much worse if Biden were still in office. Due to isolated shortages, inflation is currently running at 10%. This is entirely due to China! We are sure this will resolve quickly. Remember, inflation was nearly 18% in the early Reagan years. We can fix this.

The price of gasoline, at $7.17 a gallon, has been a hardship for many. This is a worldwide issue, and has nothing to do with President Trump. In England, gas (they call it ‘petrol’ there, the sissies) is $8.00 a gallon. Other countries are even higher. We should be glad for what we have.

The supply chain disruptions with China have had an impact on employment, as well. Some plants have had to close due to materials shortages. Farmers are struggling to find markets for their crops. Unemployment in the U.S. is currently running at 5.1%, much better than at the height of the so-called pandemic, but we still need to get it lower. But can you imagine what it would be under Biden? 10%, at least!

HEALTH CARE

We all know America has the greatest health care system in the world, regardless of what the treasonous press might say. And we know that these liars are telling us that the number of Americans without health insurance has now shot up to 40 million. Don’t believe them!

Yes, unfortunately the latest release of Health and Human Services insurance data has been delayed for another year (or two) under the order of Secretary Dr. Scott Atlas (the same brave patriot who banned masks on his first day in office, and declared an end to the phony ChiCom epidemic). But we know this is just a temporary disruption while he reorganizes the Department. In the meantime, things are fine.

More importantly, our President has allocated $100 billion to develop the Abortion Prevention and Prosecution (APAP) Force to send armed agents into states to ensure no abortions occur. These agents will also have the authority to check pregnancy tests on any woman leaving the country (in order to ensure that they’re not travelling to receive an abortion), as well as the authority to inspect any and all mail that APAP has reason to believe contains abortion related pills or materials.

Finally, the President has forwarded the Patriot’s Right of Refusal (PRoR) Law to Congress. This freedom-protecting bill will allow any health care provider to refuse to give medical services to anyone he or she believes might represent a threat to the stability of the country. Yes, in some cases this might mean that Left-Wing Communist Democrats may not be able to receive care, but that is a small price to pay for our continued freedom.

And an additional comment: the decision to end the Medicare program should not be taken as an attempt to bring harm to older Americans. Medicare was simply an entitlement program started by Socialist Democrats that served only to make the elderly dependent on the government. Ending it will empower older citizens to get private insurance. Those who feel they don’t have the funds to afford this obviously didn’t save enough over the course of their lifetimes, and regrettably, must now live with those consequences.

ELECTION MONITORING AND SECURITY (EMS) FORCE

As we all know, the security of our elections is the most important single principle in a strong America. Left-wing grousing about whether our elections are “fair” notwithstanding, the decision to establish the EMS Force has been one of the boldest and most important steps President Trump has taken.

This Force will station armed officers inside every polling place in America, with the authority to arrest any voter they might suspect of fraud. Of course, those votes won’t be registered and/or counted. Even though last year’s Fake Voter Identification (FVI) Task Force has been unable to find concrete evidence of clear election fraud, we all know it is out there. How else would the phony narrative that President Trump lost the last election have been created?

And in keeping with our budget-conscious approach, the EMS Force will be funded through the savings realized by closing just over half of all polling places in the country, and limiting voting times to no more than 5 hours per election. This will result in enormous savings. Again, bleeding heart liberals are saying this is not “fair,” but we know that a willingness to travel 20-30 miles to vote is the least someone can do to demonstrate their true patriotism. Anyone unwilling to do this is not a true American anyway.

IMMIGRATION

Our President has taken unprecedented heat for making the decision to stop all immigration from countries that are not predominantly white, Christian, or western European. Such a decision, however, was in full keeping with the values at the heart of the MAGA concept. We should be thanking him.

The unfortunate incident at the border last month when border patrol agents were forced to use automatic weapons could not have been avoided. Due to adverse weather conditions, the agents had every reason to believe that the 68 children trying to cross the border were actually murders and rapists. The agents were only doing their job.

The Presidential directive to “shoot to kill” any unauthorized crossing only makes sense. This directive has been well publicized throughout the world, and those children who tried to illegally cross over are the only ones responsible for their fate.

PATRIOTIC EDUCATION ONLY (PEO)

If America is to move forward in the MAGA era, education must be in line with MAGA principles only!

This means that the principles of American education must be (1) teaching only America First values, (2) eradication of Critical Race Theory (CRT), (3) purging libraries of anti-American literature, (4) the elimination of any anti-MAGA sexual content, and (5) protection of students.

It is for these reasons that the President has dissolved the Department of Education, and placed all of its responsibilities under the Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Rudy Giuliani. He will ensure that these priorities will be protected according to the PEO Act of 2022

Our Justice Department will deploy agents to every school in America, ensuring that teachers have, first and foremost, signed the MAGA loyalty pledge, and that no mention of sexuality or critical race theory is made.

Only math, reading, and Authentic American History (AAH) will be taught in grade school. Because science is subjective, it will not be taught until the high school level.

All teachers, in order to obtain a state teaching certificate, will be required to participate in a minimum of 100 hours of firearms training. AR-15 rifles will be required inside of every classroom in America. This will ensure the protection of our students.

Yes, we know that the lying liberal media has made much of the accidental discharge of some of these rifles inside Texas classrooms (where mandatory rifle legislation is already in place). And yes, 5 students unfortunately died in those accidents. But imagine how many lives have been protected! This is just a small price to pay for our freedoms!

The press has also implied that the PEO policy will prevent gays and lesbians from teaching. This is absolutely untrue! Of course, we welcome all teachers. However, in keeping with PEO principles, any gay teacher that discusses his/her sexual orientation with students will be subject to immediate termination.

This is only fair and correct. Real teachers know that students must be protected from any notion of sexual orientation.

Finally, rumors are circulating around the country that the Trump administration is going to shut down public schools. This is absolutely untrue! However, we do anticipate that by 2030, public schools will no longer be necessary, and all students will be attending private schools.

Clearly, public schools in this country have run their course. Private schools are the way of the future. Yes, we know that many liberals maintain that some students will be unable to afford private schools. But this is simply a reality. Private schools—when properly focused on PEO—will indeed make America Great Again. The fact that some students may miss out is simply a product of our times.

We would also like to confirm that private funding has been obtained to add President Trump’s bust to Mount Rushmore. This is only fitting, in that he is obviously the greatest President in American history.

Finally, we would urge all Americans to contact their representatives and support the 28^th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which provides that President Donald Joseph Trump shall be eligible to be designated as President for Life. Yes, we are aware that, once again, the liberal media has acted in horror when President Trump replaced Mike Pence with the most qualified person in America to be Vice-President, Donald Trump, Jr. But we live in dangerous times. An orderly transition, as well as an administration we can trust, is far more important than any whining about nepotism.

Thank you for your steadfast support of our nation.

Make America Great Again!

Keep America Great!

America first, no matter what!

Sincerely,

The White House Office of Public Information

Elon Musk, Director

dfrey

24 May, 2022

Blog

GIVE ‘EM HELL, EMMY

It’s May, and graduations are in the air. At high schools around the country, young men and women will don caps and gowns, walk across the stage to the sound of applause, shake hands with a bunch of old people, then head back to their seats carrying brand-new diplomas.

It’s been going on for years—just do what you’re told, work hard, complete your work, and you graduate. And with graduation, comes that shining moment on stage.

But it wasn’t always that way.

In 1970, at my small-town high school, three of my senior classmates were pregnant. I doubt if this was confirmed by any district wide school pregnancy test, but they all had recently gotten married, and in rural Missouri, a high school marriage was basically synonymous with pregnancy. And pregnancy was synonymous with sex.

It was all too much for the school’s administration. Shortly before graduation, they informed the three girls they could not participate in graduation ceremonies.

That’s right. Even after completing all of the course work, and, in the case of one of the girls, doing so with honors, they wouldn’t be allowed on stage.

Whether this standard would have been equally applied to male students is highly questionable. Most males in situations like this were older and had already graduated. Or in some cases, completely vanished.

Regardless, the school was clear in its refusal to permit the girls from participating in the ceremony.

But one of the girls’ mothers made a last-ditch effort. She called the one person she felt she could trust, a long-time friend who’d just been elected to the local school board. Emma Margaret Frey.

That’s right. She called my mother.

I’ve already written about my mother’s stoicism in caring for my meningitis. But here’s a more complete picture. Earlier in life, she’d worked as a teacher in everything from a one room schoolhouse at the edge of Kansas City (where she’d once found a dead body in the coal shed) to our local high school. She had a penchant for taking jobs no one else really wanted. She’d even coached the girls’ high school basketball team to a conference championship.

This latter event must have shocked everyone in town. Not only was my mother not a trained coach, she’d never even played organized basketball. In fact, she was barely five feet tall in high heels. When I later asked her how she did it, she just shrugged. “We trained hard,” she said.

I doubt if the Guinness Book of World Records has a listing for the World’s Shortest Championship Basketball Coach, but if they do, my mother would probably be in the running.

So when my mother got the call about the three girls’ predicament, she swung into action. These girls were going graduate, one way or the other, even if she had to go up against the school’s administration alone.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to. She had a friend and ally on the board. Donna Harpst Baker.

At first glance, Donna Baker would have seemed the polar opposite of my mother. Tall, blonde, and athletic (she’d actually played for my mother on that championship basketball team), she had an outgoing personality that allowed her to easily strike up a conversation with anyone. But she also carried with her the grit and determination of her German ancestors who’d carved farmland out of a Missouri River floodplain. She wasn’t one to back down, either. And she had no difficulty speaking her mind

Neither one had ever dreamed of being on the school board. But after much urging, they’d both thrown their hats into the ring against two incumbents.

They won in a landslide. The first women elected to the school board in over forty years. Barely a month later, they learned about the three girls’ dilemma.

To this day, I don’t know how the whole confrontation went down. Most everyone who was a part of it is long gone. My father, who generally avoided getting involved in such matters, apparently offered my mother only this bit of advice.

“Give ‘em hell, Emmy.”

The most likely scenario I can imagine is my mother calmly but clearly stating the case for allowing the girls to graduate. At that point, she likely paused. Then Donna must have hit them like an avalanche.

But whatever happened, when the dust had settled, the three girls walked across the stage, shook hands, and received their diplomas right along with the rest of us.

The story should have ended there, but of course it didn’t. Several local citizens were outraged that the girls were allowed to participate, especially when school officials had been over-ruled by two brand new school board members who were women, for God’s sake!!

Both my mother and Donna got their share of angry complaints, with plenty of references to loose sexual morals and the shame of condoning sin. Both women stood their ground. After a while, the whole thing died down.

Three years later, they ran for re-election. This time, they won by an even wider margin.

But I do remember one phone call my mother received around the time of graduation. I was in the next room, but could still hear the angry voice raging on the other end of the line. My mother would calmly interject “yes,” “I see,” and “all right” from time to time.

Finally, the ranting paused, and my mother spoke. “Well, sir,” she said. “All I can tell you is that I have three sons. And any one of those boys is just as capable of getting someone’s daughter pregnant as anyone else. So I don’t think I have any right to sit in judgement of these young women. And neither do you.”

The phone call quickly ended.

All of that was a long time ago. At their hearts, my mother and Donna were both just conservative Baptist farm girls who nonetheless had a strong sense of fairness and decency in how others should be treated and respected. I’m sure they’d both be heartbroken to see how those qualities have nearly vanished in America today, especially in terms of respect for women’s rights.

I won’t go into detail. You can fill in the gaps yourself.

My mother loved to raise flowers. All summer long she’d cut flowers from her garden and arrange them in a vase in our living room. We never ordered flowers to be delivered. To a Frey, that would’ve been both an extravagance and a redundancy.

But each May, right around graduation, my mother would always receive a bouquet of flowers from the local florist.

I never knew who sent them, but that’s OK.

Because my mother did.

Post-Script: Next week I’ll be back with a much different post—a White House Announcement from an alternate-reality America. Don’t miss it. It should give you plenty of food for thought.

dfrey

3 May, 2022

Blog

NINE MONTHS AND COUNTING. . .

My name it ain’t nothin’, my age it means less/The country I come from is called the Midwest/I was taught and brought up there, all the laws to abide/And that the land that I lived in, had God on its side. —Bob Dylan, from With God on our Side, 1964

Sometime around a year ago, probably in a fit of madness, I decided to start a blog. Now, 9 months and thirteen posts later, maybe it’s time to reflect back on the issues that’ve appeared on these pages.

What’s changed? What’s better? What’s worse. What’s going on?

So far, we’ve talked about the grave threat posed to America—by Americans, as seen through the eyes of the Chinese Communist party. We’ve looked at our shocking politicization and lack of response to the COVID pandemic.

We’ve tried to sort out the impossible to define boogie-man called critical race theory, and understand why it’s being used to demean education, and most of all, keep power in the hands of far-right hypocrites.

We’ve talked about the impact of guns on our society, and how America continues to mutate toward a culture of “everybody should carry a gun everywhere” even as the body count keeps growing.

We’ve confronted the emotionally charged issue of abortion, and the double standard placed on women in America—especially poor women. We’ve seen how simply “banning” it will accomplish nothing.

And finally, around Christmas, we’ve had an imaginary letter from Jesus, wondering, among other things, how we’ve managed to screw up our world so badly.

So where does all of this stand now?

America

America, where are you now?/Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?/Don’t you know we need you now/We can’t fight alone against this Monster.—Steppenwolf, from America/Monster, 1969

As inflation rages throughout the world, refugees pour out of war-torn nations, and critical midterm elections approach, our country only sinks deeper into what has become “the American way”—self-righteous finger pointing, a refusal to take responsibility, and a rush to embrace extremism and hatred for anyone with whom we disagree.

All of this folds up into the people we’re likely to put into office. Will this election finally bring some level heads into government, or will it usher in even more extremists as democracy spirals out of control?

Will Elon “I’m rich so I don’t have to care” Musk’s purchase of Twitter lead us to completely abandon legitimate news sources in favor of the anonymous grunts, taunts, lies, and threats that are the core of what can only loosely be described as “social” media?

Or will we finally drop the façade of even calling it social media, and just call it what it’s become—antisocial media?

One thing is still true since I wrote my first post. As America becomes ever more immersed in its own cultural and religious wars, our enemies celebrate. And our allies despair.

This will not end well for democracy.

Oh, and one more thing. That election that was just held in France, the one where neither candidate really resonated with the French people? It had the lowest voter turnout in over twenty years—72% of French voters.

Compare that to our country, where the 2020 election drew record numbers of Americans to the polls. A whopping 66%.

Read into that whatever you’d like. But it’s not great press for American democracy.

COVID

As you and I are standing, at the dawn of a new century/Little Europes have sprung everywhere, as anyone can see/But there on the horizon is the possibility/That some bug from out of Africa might come for you and me/Destroying everything in its path from sea to shining sea/Just like the Great Nations of Europe in the sixteenth century. –Randy Newman, The Great Nations of Europe, 2003.

The numbers are pretty straightforward—over a million Americans have died from the virus. Even this count is probably low. Considering the additional unexplained deaths in this country, the actual number is at least a hundred thousand more. But hey, we’re America. We don’t worry about math, right?

Millions of Americans still refuse to wear masks, get vaccinated, or even acknowledge the virus’s threat because they place their own egos over the health of their neighbors. Quacks still profit from pushing phony remedies, and amoral politicians continue to equate simple public health measures with Orwellian mind control.

Recently, a trio of economists with no public health experience tried to “prove” that mandatory public health measures had no significant impact on COVID. They released a “working paper” that was heralded by the right-wing media as the “Johns Hopkins Study.”

In reality, it had nothing to do with the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health, both highly regarded institutions. But apparently the authors thought they could get more milage out of the paper if they could infer a connection based on a loose affiliation one of them had with the Hopkins School of Arts and Sciences.

To describe the multiple flaws in this study would take all day, but I’ll try to be brief. The authors cherry picked their data, included studies that agreed with them and excluded studies that didn’t. They refused to include extensive scientific research that already proved the value of interventions such as masks.

They drew their conclusions based on information from over a year ago, when earlier variants had primarily hit the northeast, which quickly mandated masking, social distancing, etc. Many southern states smugly pointed to their early “success” in stopping the virus without such mandates. It was data from this time period that the study used to reach its conclusions.

But then the Delta variant slammed the country. Its deadly impact was most pronounced in the South, where death rates skyrocketed and overwhelmed hospital ICUs from Miami to Houston. These data weren’t included in the study.

But the downright goofiest aspect of the study was how it defined everyone’s favorite hot-button term, “lockdown.” According to the authors, this meant any nonpharmacological intervention.

That’s right—the conclusions were based on the assumption that being required to wear a mask in a grocery store was no different from being told you can’t go to work. No wonder their findings made no sense.

Johns Hopkins University quickly disavowed the study, the Vice-Dean of its world recognized School of Public Health saying, among other things, “To reach their conclusion that ‘lockdowns’ had a small effect on mortality, the authors redefined the term ‘lockdown’ and disregarded many peer-reviewed studies. The working paper did not include new data, and serious questions have already been raised about its methodology.”

Dr. Seth Flaxman from Oxford University perhaps said it best when he described the study this way: “It’s as if we wanted to know whether smoking causes cancer, so we asked a bunch of new smokers: did you have cancer the day before you started smoking? And what about the day after? If we did this, obviously we’d incorrectly conclude smoking is unrelated to cancer. . .”

The study was so flawed that eventually even FOX News stopped talking about it. But unfortunately, its damage to America’s health lives on.

After a year of wrestling with the virus, and watching life expectancy fall in country after country (it was down by nearly two years in the U.S.), much of the world got a reprieve as life expectancy once again started to rise.

But not for us. In America, life expectancy in 2021 fell yet again. Not that long ago, U.S. life expectancy was pushing 80 years. Today, the average American can expect to live to age 76.6.

What will it be next year? And the next? And when the next pandemic hits? Who knows?

One thing is certain. As states cut back on public health programs, shackle their health departments, scapegoat public health workers, and water down science with politics, American health care will only worsen.

And just for the record, an analysis by the Peterson Institute revealed that 234,000 American deaths could have been prevented through adequate vaccinations.

234,000 lives. Let that sink in for a moment.

Critical Race Theory and Education

The history books tell it, they tell it so well/How the cavalries charged and the Indians fell/The cavalries charged and the Indians died/Ah, the country was young then, with God on its side. —Bob Dylan, from With God on our Side, 1964

For millions of Americans, not much has changed when it comes to CRT. They’ve never seen it, they can’t define it, they just know they hate it. And predictably, law after law has been passed outlawing it.

How to enforce a law that’s based on how someone “feels” about their race? Who knows? How does a teacher know how a discussion of history will make a student “feel?” When do you fire a teacher? When do you arrest one?

Of course, this kind of “I have to protect my poor little Johnny from you evil teachers” has evolved into issues of sexuality, too. Laws prohibiting discussion of LGBT issues have also been implemented across the country.

Books that even I read in the 1950s and 60s, for God’s sake, have been banned from libraries. In the state of Florida, over 50 Math books were banned because they used racial examples that stuck in the craw of Florida censors.

Math? Really? Apparently in Florida, whether you actually learn math is less important than whether you have your racial feelings hurt. And protecting students from some ill-defined “CRT” is more important than whether or not they actually learn any math, or just remain stupid.

Sorry, but I get very emotional when it comes to the subject of book banning. The Nazis burned books. Dictatorships from communism to fascism banned books to stay in power. They all knew that books carried something far more powerful than bullets.

They carried ideas.

My mother and father were the first in their respective families to graduate from High School. My mother went to college. For my father, higher education was only a dream.

But they both shared a belief that reading was key to moving forward in life. They encouraged me to read anything and everything I could get my hands on. Even if they disagreed with it, even if they didn’t like it, even if it really upset them, they simply couldn’t bring themselves to tell me not to read. Instead, they trusted that I was smart enough to use the wisdom they had taught me to evaluate what I read.

Frankly, I’m glad my parents aren’t alive today to see the ignorance, hatred, and bitterness on full display at American school board meetings. Screaming, raging, and publicly threatening teachers and school officials in full view of their own children—don’t these people realize they’re teaching their kids a far more dangerous lesson than anything that could be found in the books they want banned? One day those children will be responsible for the success or failure of our nation. How can they possibly succeed if the most important lesson they remember is their parents screaming at everyone they disagreed with?

America was established by human beings. It’s been run by human beings for over two hundred years. And human beings sometimes screw up.

Our country has done some incredible things we should be enormously proud of. We’ve also done some awful things for which we should be ashamed. America can’t grow and prosper if we don’t fully acknowledge both. And all of this needs to be taught in school and elsewhere.

Oh, and if you’re someone who’s still convinced that books that upset you need to be banned, here’s something to consider. There’s an extremely popular book that’s being openly promoted throughout the country that vividly describes scenes of brutality, murder, torture, rape, and incest.

It’s called The Bible. Do you want to ban it, too?

Guns

Oh, see the fire is sweepin’/Our very streets today/Burns like a red coal carpet/Mad bull has lost its way/War, children, It’s just a shot away, It’s just a shot away/War, children, It’s just a shot away, It’s just a shot away. —Mick Jagger, from Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, 1969

Mortality rates for American young people just took an ominous turn, so I’ll give it to you straight. If you are a young parent in this country today, your child is now more likely to die from a gunshot wound than any other cause.

That’s right. More than auto accidents. More than overdoses. More than cancer, leukemia, lung disease and heart defects combined.

Last year, 45,222 Americans died as result of a gunshot. That’s a 25% increase in barely five years. Gun murders, suicides, and mass shootings (what the FBI calls “active shooter incidents”) are all on the rise.

Knowing precisely how many people own guns is impossible, but from what evidence we have available, as gun ownership rates go up, so do homicides. No, this doesn’t prove cause and effect, but it should be enough to give even hardened gun-worshipers pause.

And to take the obvious even a step further, consider that gun fatality rates correlate with a state’s political leanings. “Red” republican states with looser gun laws tend to have higher fatality rates, with “blue” democratic states tracking in the opposite direction. You can check it out here Stats of the States – Firearm Mortality (cdc.gov) , but suffice it to say New Mexico is the only non-red state in the top 10 fatality states. Nebraska is the only red state in the bottom 10.

And to be sure, paranoia doesn’t help. Since the outbreak of COVID, new gun purchases have soared by 7.5 million, with a disproportionate number of women and minorities arming themselves. Some of those purchasers may be safer. And if current trends continue, many others will wind up killing themselves or a loved one.

Many states are moving toward ending all regulations on gun ownership. The Nebraska Unicameral barely defeated a bill to do just that. No permit, no training required, no restrictions, no worries. How many will die from all of this is an open question.

Time will tell.

Abortion

But you never ask questions, when God’s on your side. . .—Dylan, 1964

Since my post on this topic, a much shorter (and somewhat sanitized version—it omitted the testicle reference) appeared in the Omaha World-Herald. Otherwise, the only significant change in this issue is the ongoing “race to the bottom” as right-wing states pass increasingly restrictive laws in an attempt to outdo each other in proving who is the “toughest” on abortion.

In Texas, this hasn’t had much effect. Abortions haven’t gone down; rather, women have gone out of state or obtained them medically. Outside of weaponizing postal employees, it’s hard to know how this will change.

But as the geography of legal abortion availability changes, so does availability. Texas again takes the cake for outrageous legal action by filing an attempted murder case against a woman who attempted a self-induced abortion. I’m sure she won’t be the last.

In the meantime, Texas, the state with the highest number of uninsured people in the country, will continue to squander its resources deputizing every self-righteous zealot they can find to go out and try to collect a bounty on someone seeking an abortion. And throughout the country, others will flee to safer states, a process that some have likened to the Underground Railroad of the early 1800s.

All in all, I still think my testicle bounty proposal is best.

But let’s leave Texas alone for a moment. I have an award I’ll soon be giving to America’s Dumbest State, and for the record, it’s not Texas. Stay tuned for an upcoming post.

In the meantime, let’s get a final thought from Jesus. . .

WWJSN (What Would Jesus Say Now?)

Through many dark hours, I’ve been thinking about this/How Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss/But I can’t think for you, you’ll have to decide/Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side. —Dylan, 1964

Hello everyone. It’s been a while since my Christmas letter. At that time, I was really concerned about the direction mankind was headed in. I was also wondering if those three years I spent teaching what you people later called “Christian principles” was actually a waste of time. You certainly didn’t seem to learn much.

Since then, you haven’t exactly done a lot to change my mind.

Politicians who don’t actually believe in me still trot me out in order to get elected. Some clown in Minnesota tries to use me to sell pillows. And tinhorn dictators throughout the world use me as an excuse to start wars.

So let me restate this another way. I don’t give a damn about your politics, your flag, your prejudices, or even which church you occasionally wander in and out of! I don’t care if you’ve memorized The Bible, your Catechism, your prayer book, or the Koran! Most of you still couldn’t find Mathew 22:39 with a road map, much less put it into practice.

Here’s a news flash: you’re not going to be around that long. A few years will fly by while you’re all wrapped up in yourself, trying to get ahead, then BAM! It’s gonna be over! The time you could have spent making a difference will be gone.

So maybe instead of worrying about how to lock in some kind of glorious afterlife, focus on making the world a better place for everyone else now. That way, you’d all be a lot better off in the long run.

And one last thing. I’m not on anybody’s “side” in a war, football game, or election. And I have absolutely no interest in whether or not you cross yourself before you shoot a free throw, either.

See you down the road.

Jesus

And now that I’m leavin’, I’m weary as hell/These things that I’m feelin’, ain’t no tongue can tell/My thoughts fill my head and they fall to the floor/That if God is on our side, He’ll stop the next war. —Dylan, 1964

Postscript

Just as I was preparing to hit the “send” button on this post, word leaked that the United States Supreme Court is preparing to strike down Roe v Wade, and effectively outlaw abortions in many states. Although it would be significant, I don’t think it adds nor detracts from anything I’ve written in this post, my earlier post, my World-Herald piece, or anything else, for that matter.

The fact remains that nothing a cloistered star chamber of nine upper class judges can do or say will change the realities of what millions of American women must confront on a daily basis.

For at least five of those judges, apparently, that makes no difference.

Details at Eleven.

REFERENCES:

dfrey

12 Mar, 2022

Blog

YOU SAY YOU WANT TO END ABORTION. . .?

“Tell Jake to sleep on the roof.”— In 1912, Sadie Sachs was living in terrible poverty with 3 hungry children in a tiny one room apartment in New York City. Barely surviving the complications of a desperate self-induced abortion, she begged the doctor to tell her anything she could do to keep from getting pregnant again. This was all the Doctor would say – “Tell Jake to sleep on the roof.” Six months later, after another attempted self-induced abortion, Ms. Sachs was dead.

“There’s a high school girl with a bourgeois dream/Just like the pictures in the magazine/She found on the floor of the laundry mat/Well a woman with kids can forget all that/If she turns up pregnant, what’ll she do?/Forget the career, forget about school?/Can she live on faith, live on hope?/High on Jesus or hooked on dope?/When it’s way too late to just say no/You can’t make it here anymore.”—from We Can’t Make It Here Anymore, on the album Childish Things, by James McMurtry, 2005.

This subject will be difficult for many of you. Few issues are more immersed in raw emotion than this one, nor have such potential to divide us into warring factions.

So if you can stay with me, I hope we can approach this from a standpoint of reason and logic, rather than hatred and demonization.

Fair warning—I’m not writing about philosophy or theology here. That’s what makes this different from 99% of what’s usually written about abortion.

Most people want to argue about the nature of an embryo or a fetus. Is it really alive? Is it life? Is it human life? Is it a human life? Does it have a heartbeat? When does it get a heartbeat? Does that make any difference?

Does it have a “soul?” When does it get a “soul?” What is a “soul” anyway, and what does it mean to have a “soul?” Is it connected to an afterlife? What kind? Does it feel? Does it think? Is it just a mass of dividing tissue? If it’s not life, then what is it? When does it become “life?” When does it become a “life?”

Feel free to argue about that stuff with your friends and neighbors all you want. But you’ll probably just make yourself nuts in the process.

I’m not going to do that. Because today, people are getting shot, clinics burned, and nurses and doctors harassed and threatened by some of the bitterest people I’ve ever met, all who seem to think they have the moral high ground.

What they don’t seem to realize is that their hatred is accomplishing nothing. That’s why any honest discussion of abortion needs to be based on thought and reason.

So if you’re really someone who wants to end abortions, here’s what you need to know.

First, let’s start with some basic facts. Humans have been having sex for centuries, and it hasn’t changed much.

Every bit of research shows that the age at which people begin having sex is similar across most groups, usually beginning in the mid to late teens. Kids in conservative homes, kids in Christian schools, kids who attend multiple religious services, all seem to have sex no differently from their peers. And just as often, they get pregnant. No, religion doesn’t somehow magically protect you from pregnancy. And it certainly doesn’t keep religious young men from getting young women pregnant, either.

In fact, teens exposed to “abstinence only” sex-education have higher pregnancy rates than those who learn about other methods of birth control.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. Abortion becomes an issue only if someone gets pregnant. Someone only gets pregnant if they have sex. And people have—and will continue to have—sex, regardless of how much preaching is done.

You can’t legislate away sex. And the hard truth is that you can’t legislate away abortions, either.

This is what the people who demand that we overturn Roe vs. Wade refuse to acknowledge.

As a physician, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve sat in an examination room with a woman who was crying, shaking, and desperately trying to come to terms with an unplanned pregnancy. Each was different. Some were married, some weren’t. Their ages varied, their lives varied, their families varied. The impact of the pregnancy on the future of each one of them was profoundly different.

Each one struggled with the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspect of what they might have to do. And in most instances, there wasn’t a male in sight.

And no, not a single one of them approached it lightly. I’ve never had a patient who came in and said, “Gee Doc, I got up this morning and thought ‘what can I do today? Go to the zoo? Clean out the garage? Hey, you know what, I think I’ll just go get an abortion!’” Rather, for each woman, it was the most gut-wrenching decision they ever made, regardless of whether they ultimately had the abortion or not.

But the last thing any of them was concerned about was whether or not it was “legal.”

I went to a rural Missouri high school. We had 39 students in my graduating class. And in my school alone, I knew of 2 young women who had abortions. There were undoubtedly more.

This was in the 1960’s—before Roe vs. Wade. Abortions were technically illegal, just like they were in 1912. That didn’t keep them from happening—whether in 1912 New York or 1968 Missouri. According to her biographers, Frank Sinatra’s mother was the “go-to” person in Hoboken, New Jersey if you were an Italian-American woman who needed an abortion.

Long before Roe vs. Wade.

If you had money, you could get a relatively safe abortion. But it would cost you. And if you didn’t have money? Then you had to engage in the Russian Roulette of unsafe, risky abortions.

You might bleed to death. You might become septic, dying of dehydration, fever, and an overwhelming infection.

The conditions of the procedure were sometimes medieval. One woman from California had to drive to Mexico for an abortion. She screamed in pain as the doctor performed the procedure without any form of anesthesia or pain killer. “You must burn for your sins,” he snorted.

Burn for your sins? No mention of the son-of-a-bitch who got her pregnant in the first place, burning for his sins.

Most often, a pregnant woman, especially an unmarried young woman, confronts her condition without the support of the man who impregnated her, often with rejection from her family, and all too often, with her future shattered.

And it doesn’t end there. Records show that domestic violence against women actually increases during pregnancy. And if you already have a child you’re trying to protect, getting out of a dangerous relationship while pregnant becomes even harder. Without community or family support, it may be impossible.

What if the abuser resents your pregnancy, blames you for the imposition it might place on his life, and if he’s cruel, controlling, and paranoid enough, starts thinking that he might not even be the child’s father?

We see the outcomes all of the time. The woman winds up dead. Pregnancy is a documented risk factor for both physical abuse and homicide.

All too often, it’s the women who most need help that can’t get it. Poorer states and communities often have nothing to offer women other than thoughts and prayers.

In addition, assistance with oral contraception (birth control pills), condoms, and other birth control methods is often most lacking in poorer areas where women can least afford to pay for them out of pocket.

Why? First, because state budgets often prioritize just about everything ahead of women’s health, and secondly, because many self-righteous politicians seem to think that making birth control more readily available will turn women into sex-crazed creatures who’ll go out and have sex faster than a bunch of rabbits in spring.

The second point is obviously ridiculous. Let’s go over it again. People already have sex, and without contraception women will become pregnant. Contraception doesn’t force anyone to have sex, but it will allow people to plan families, and eliminate the need for abortion.

But only if contraception is actually available. More on that in a minute. But for the moment, let’s just say that anyone who claims to be “pro-life” and “anti-contraception” is as loony as someone who is “pro-health” but “anti-health care.” Study after study has shown that woman who use contraception have sex no more often than women who don’t. They just don’t get pregnant.

And thus don’t confront the issue of abortion.

Don’t just take my word for it. Look at the rest of the world. The United States has higher rates of abortion than any country in western Europe. Yet in each of those countries, abortions are easier to obtain than in the U.S.

Let me say that again. European countries that make abortion more available have fewer abortions. The key is that they also make contraception far easier to obtain, and it works. Fewer unplanned pregnancies, and fewer abortions. And sex occurs just as often as in the U.S.

But these facts haven’t stopped many hypocrites in American politics and media from acting in outrageous ways. These are people like former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, an outspoken proponent of “pro-life family values” who repeatedly voted to block any funding for abortions. According to one of his several ex-wives, Barr not only encouraged her to get abortions, but actually drove her to the clinic for the procedures and later picked her up. He apparently didn’t want to be seen in the waiting room.

And then there’s Republican Congressman Dr. Scott Desjarlais of Tennessee, who might best be described as the Gynecologist from Hell. He’s admitted to having sex with his patients (he got a $500 fine and a slap on the wrist). He also supported his ex-wife’s decision to get two abortions, and has been caught on tape advising a patient (who was pregnant by way of the good doctor) to go out of state for an abortion. He claims he wants to now outlaw all abortions (apparently only for other people). And he keeps getting reelected.

And don’t forget Rush Limbaugh. The multiply-wedded pride of Cape Girardeau, Missouri and self-proclaimed Family Values Guy famously told a Georgetown co-ed who spoke out about the need for affordable contraception that she was a “slut” and he “wanted to see movies” of her sex life.

Who knows? He might be watching movies right now by a very warm fire.

Finally, let’s not forget that abortions for the rich and famous have always been around. When a man who’s rich and powerful gets a woman pregnant, he can easily hush the whole thing up with a pay-off and an abortion. And the more women he has sex with? The greater the possibility for a pregnancy—and an abortion.

To anyone who thinks that a certain ex-president, who’s openly bragged about his multiple sex partners, hasn’t gotten some of those women pregnant and paid for their abortions, let me say this: I’ve got a big bridge in New York City I’ll sell you.

The four examples I’ve just given you are, of course, all men. And if any of them had somehow gotten pregnant themselves, do you think they would have hesitated for a minute before getting an abortion? You know the answer as well as I do.

I’ve known several people who worked for Planned Parenthood. They were subjected to daily abuse and scorn from protestors. Yet on several occasions, they’d see some of those same protesters in a different light—when they’d show up afterhours, tearfully describing a pregnant daughter, and asking for help in getting an abortion.

Hypocritical? Of course it was. But in each case, the parent rationalized that their situation was somehow different, that they were the exception.

A few weeks would go by, and the parent would be back outside protesting as if nothing had happened. This, my friends said, was what convinced them that their work was indeed essential.

But let’s talk about legislation for a moment. In state after state, legislators are passing laws making access to abortion more and more difficult (except for the rich, of course). Texas has tried to lead the way by placing a $10,000 “bounty” on anyone who performs an abortion. I’ll have a few things to say about that in a minute. But for the time being, keep in mind that the law hasn’t significantly reduced the number of Texas women getting abortions, bounty or no bounty.

Currently, with a far-right Supreme Court, Roe vs. Wade may soon be declared unconstitutional and abortions will be banned across wide swaths of America (presumably, there will be exceptions made for the kinds of politicians I mentioned above).

And if this happens, there’ll likely be a huge party. Anti-abortion advocates will high five and fist bump. But they will have accomplished nothing.

Abortions will continue, just like they continue in every state where attempts have been made to restrict them. Rich women (or women pregnant by rich men) will continue to get them under the table. Poor women will get them in unsafe situations, and many will die. But abortions will still occur, just like they did before Roe vs. Wade.

So you say you want to do whatever’s necessary to end abortion? Twenty years ago, I was on a panel of speakers discussing health care in front of a large group of medical students. The subject of abortion came up. This was at a Catholic medical school, and some of the panel talked about overturning Roe vs. Wade. Finally, it was my turn. These students need to hear the truth, I thought. So I told them.

Abortions won’t go away if Roe is overturned, I said bluntly. Overturning a law is easy. But ending abortion? That’s much harder. Here’s what it will take.

Only when contraception is universally available, and barriers to access are removed. Only when contraception is affordable to everyone, and not hidden off in a corner somewhere. Only when it’s over-the-counter (like Aleve or Tylenol), as it is in many countries. Only when parents accept the reality of sex, and don’t block their children’s’ access to contraception—for both men and women

Only when women are finally treated with respect as equals. Only when the male who caused the pregnancy has the same accountability as the woman. Only when their future, their life, their opportunities are impacted to the same degree as the woman.

Only when women aren’t shamed for a pregnancy while the male gets off with a wink and a nod. Only when women aren’t rejected by their families and friends. Only when social supports truly provide the assistance that a woman and her family need to have a decent life, a fair opportunity, and a healthy environment.

Only when a pregnancy doesn’t mean the end of a career or an education. Only when it doesn’t place a woman at risk for abuse and harm.

So if you want to end abortion, work to make these things happen. When they do—and only when they do—abortions will end. But not a moment before. In the meantime, all the protests you do, all of the signs you carry, all the letters you write about overturning Roe vs. Wade, will accomplish nothing.

Nothing.

I pushed the microphone away, and glanced at the other faculty members at the table. They were staring at me with their mouths open. Up to that point, whenever anyone on the panel had spoken, the students responded as students usually do—with polite applause.

But my remarks were met with stunned silence at first. Then they gave me a standing ovation.

Today, I would say the same things I told those students 20 years ago, but with one addition. That Texas Law—the one that allows a $10,000 bounty on anyone performing an abortion? I’d actually be willing to support that.

But only if in order to collect the bounty you’d also have to find the bastard that got the woman pregnant, and drop off his testicles in a mayonnaise jar at the county courthouse. I think that would be more effective in ending abortions than anything the Texas Governor and his Legislature could do.

In the meantime, people can rant and scream, picket and protest, pass restrictive laws and overturn judicial decisions, and even resort to violence. They can debate the issues of “what is life?” and “is abortion murder?” until the cows come home. But until they have the resolve to deal with the underlying issues, abortions—anywhere—will not end.

And one more small detail. The sad story that opened this piece, about the death of Sadie Sachs? Each time the Doctor who treated Ms. Sachs made a home visit, he was accompanied by his Nurse. The day Ms. Sachs died, the Nurse was so overwhelmed by the death that she spent hours walking through the streets of New York, trying to come to terms with what had happened, and wondering what she might have done to have prevented the tragedy from happening.

The Nurse’s name was Margaret Sanger. She did do something. She founded an organization called Planned Parenthood.

I just thought you might want to know.

References for those interested:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/abortion-rates-by-country

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2017/201706_NSFG.htm

https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2019/10/over-the-counter-access-to-hormonal-contraception

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/22/us-abortion-roe-v-wade-supreme-court-49-years

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15255879/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4653097/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03392-8#:~:text=Also%2C%20becoming%20pregnant%20increases%20the%20risk%20of%20death,higher%20than%20are%20women%20who%20are%20not%20pregnant.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/oct/06/in-congress-pro-life-concerns-often-evaporate-when/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/rush-limbaugh-calls-georgetown-student-sandra-fluke-a-slut-for-advocating-contraception/2012/03/02/gIQAvjfSmR_blog.html

Most Women Denied Abortions by Texas Law Got Them Another Way – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

dfrey

7 Feb, 2022

Blog

“Big Jim been drinkin’ whiskey/And playin’ poker on a losin’ night/Pretty soon ol’ Jim start to thinkin’/Somebody been cheatin’ and lyin’.

“So Jim, he commence to fightin’/I wouldn’t tell you no lies/Big Jim done pulled his pistol/Shot his friend right between the eyes.

“Mr. Saturday Night Special/You got a barrel that’s blue and cold/You ain’t good for nothin’/But put a man six feet in a hole.”—from “Mr. Saturday Night Special,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1974.

By 1880, the town of Tombstone, Arizona was a hot mess. Local mines were in full swing and the population was exploding. The silver pouring in from the surrounding mines flowed throughout dozens of local establishments that featured non-stop gambling, drinking, and prostitution.

This, of course, was having an impact. Enough local residents were killing each other by gunfire (that is, dying with their boots on) that the local cemetery was named Boot Hill.

The city fathers had had enough. They passed an ordinance outlawing the carry of guns by Tombstone residents, and further ordered that anyone coming into Tombstone must check their guns at the Marshall’s office. They couldn’t be picked until the owner was leaving town.

And who better to enforce this process than some part-time lawmen who’d come down by way of Dodge City, Kansas—the Earp Brothers.

To say that Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp were flawed individuals would be an understatement. Today, it’s pretty clear that they were probably more interested in mining operations, gambling, and running saloons than keeping the peace. But Virgil Earp was hired as city Marshal, and would later deputize Morgan and Wyatt. Wyatt, of course, would go on to become legendary.

But the gun ordinance in Tombstone was nothing new. Dodge City had instituted a similar ordinance a few years earlier, that was credited with helping tame the rowdy Cowtown. Other cities followed suit.

Yes, guns were a part of the old west. Riding alone, or camping in the wilderness of the southwest with a range of dangers, was reason enough to be armed. But when you came into town? That was a different story. You checked your guns. No exceptions.

Were the laws 100% enforced 100% of the time? No, but they made a huge difference. Killings, especially involving drunken arguments, declined.

Anyone who tells you “The West wasn’t won with a registered gun” is frankly wrong. In truth, it was. The guns that truly “won” the West were in the hands of law enforcement.

Ironically, Tombstone, Arizona today has far more open gun laws than it did in 1881. It also has a population less than one-tenth of its silver-boom peak. But maybe there’s a lesson here.

Human beings are prone to doing some incredibly dumb things. And nothing illustrates this better than humanity’s most dangerous subset (the group that comprised the majority of inhabitants of 1880 Tombstone)—young males. The world over, they’re best described as muscle-bound containers filled with a toxic mix of testosterone, bravado, self-doubt, and insecurity. The last thing one of them needs is a gun.

Historically, male aggression was channeled through fists. Two males would argue, shout, threaten, and insult each other until one would throw a punch. A fight ensued, and the worst that would come of it might be a broken nose or a loose tooth. Generally, no one died. (Full disclosure, this never happened to me. I was the runt of the litter when it came to my classmates, and generally ran).

Today, guns are now a part of the equation. Insult someone’s family or put a kid in a position in which he feels he can’t back down? Someone’s likely to get shot. And they probably won’t just walk away with a bloody lip.

But of course, there’s a different scenario that sometimes plays out in American schools. Someone feels bullied, pushed around, or disrespected. They seethe about it for a while, then bring a gun to class to get even. You know what happens next.

Nothing will make teens change their body chemistry. But if we can keep guns out of their hands, tragedy can often be prevented. But when I hear people like Donald Trump, Jr. crowing about how his son assembled “his” rifle, it makes me cringe. He’s basically giving kids across the country carte blanche to put themselves and their classmates at risk of being killed.

That’s right—old enough to kill before you’re even old enough to drive.

The gun lobby frequently tries to divert attention from itself by claiming that the magnitude of firearm death is simply a mental health issue. Keep guns away from these crazy people, they say, and we’ll be fine.

I won’t dignify this comment about “crazy people”—especially when it’s coming from the NRA. The fact is, mental illness is no different from physical illness. It can come and go. At any given time, at least 20% of the American population is significantly depressed. Does that make them (us) “crazy?”

Of course not. Nor do we somehow become “uncrazy” when our depression improves, then “crazy” again when the depression worsens. If everyone reading this is perfectly honest, this has happened to all of us at one time or another. And often, we won’t know it until we sink pretty low.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked to a patient struggling with depression. “How are you holding up?” I’ll ask.

“Doc, last night was really rough. I was in the living room, staring at the clock. It was three in the morning, and most of the whiskey bottle was gone. I felt more beaten down than I’d ever been. I didn’t want to go on.

“But I’m better today, Doc. I think I can make it.” At this point, the patient will look away for a moment, then shake their head. “But Doc, all I can say is thank God there wasn’t a gun sitting beside me last night. I would’ve used it.”

The number of times I’ve heard something like this would give you chills.

It’s not just murder and “bad guys.” It’s also “good guys” who become “bad.” It’s people who are depressed. And of course, it’s “accidents.”

Enough guns around enough people and there will be “accidents,” through fear, carelessness, or stupidity. The example in my last post of the Father who “accidently” killed his daughter thinking she was an intruder was a true story. So is the experience of a grandfather, well-trained in gun safety, who nonetheless nearly shot someone he was sure was breaking into his house in the middle of the night. The “someone” turned out to be his grandson, who was raiding the refrigerator looking for a snack.

“Only I know how close I came,” the grandfather said.

But hey, if he had pulled the trigger, it would’ve just been one more tragic “accident,” right?

As I mentioned in my last post, these “accidents” are nothing new. In researching his novel “Centennial” the author James Michener combed through records of wagon trains and military forts along the Oregon Trail. Wagon Masters constantly warned those traveling the Trail to keep guns loaded and ready in case of an attack by indigenous tribes (“the Indians,” they were called). What was the effect of all of this, Michener wondered?

What he found was startling, but perhaps not surprising. Nearly ten times as many emigrants were killed by their own weapons as opposed to “the Indians.” Michener’s review of medical records from Fort Kearny, Nebraska, a major stop on the Trail, included enough gun-related trauma to nearly fill a surgical textbook.

When confronted with all of these facts, gun proponents have another fall back. “But we need to own these guns if we’re going to defend ourselves against a foreign invasion! That’s what the Second Amendment is all about!”

And around this time, they will always bring up Switzerland.

If you were to believe everything the Gun Lobby says, you’d assume Switzerland was a gun owners’ paradise. Everyone owns a gun. Everyone is trained to shoot. Guns are everywhere. And they have no crime. So why can’t America be like Switzerland!

So let’s talk about Switzerland. I’m kind of partial to the place. My Great-Grandfather, John Jacob Frey, left the country with his two brothers to come to America. They were basically draft dodgers.

After a month in the states, John Jacob headed for Kansas. He never saw his brothers again. Years later, when someone asked him if he ever missed his brothers or wondered what happened to them, he responded by saying, “Why, was I supposed to?” This perhaps explains why my family was never exactly touchy-feely.

So I’ve been to Switzerland a few times, but couldn’t really find anyone I was definitely related to (even though the name Frey in Switzerland is about as common as Smith or Jones in the United States.) But I do know some things about their gun laws.

First, the Swiss are a people who pride themselves in marksmanship. Their greatest folk hero, sort of a combination of Paul Bunyan and George Washington, is William Tell. He’s best known for shooting an apple off his son’s head in order to win a bet to protect his town from an evil Austrian sheriff.

It’s all probably fiction, but don’t tell that to the Swiss. Precision with a crossbow transitioned to precision with a rifle, and every year the Swiss have a national target shooting competition to determine the country’s best shot. Even the President participates.

And all of this folds into the Swiss view of the military. A small country (its largest city, Zurich, is only slightly bigger than greater Omaha, Nebraska), it’s landlocked and surrounded by larger numbers of potential invaders. In addition, Switzerland is resolute in its embrace of neutrality, meaning it has absolutely nothing in the way of allies.

The Swiss deal with this by maintaining a relatively small full-time army, staffed by conscripts, as well as a larger number of reservists. Before 2001, virtually every Swiss male was drafted. Women could join voluntarily.

During military service, soldiers frequently went home on weekends, etc. They took their (unloaded) weapons with them, and even today it’s not uncommon to see a uniformed Swiss soldier on public transportation with a rifle and a back pack.

The notion, for the Swiss, was pretty straightforward. We need a trained army that is prepared for call up if we are forced to defend the country.

Upon completion of service, a soldier was allowed to keep his rifle (after the automatic function was disabled). Many ex-soldiers joined shooting clubs, where they practiced marksmanship skills. That’s all changed since 2001, too.

So what happened in 2001? The Swiss experienced an event Americans know all too well.

A mass shooting.

Granted, by American standards, it was a pretty wimpy mass shooting. “Only” eleven people were killed, and several others maimed. Something that wouldn’t cause much stir here in the states, and probably wouldn’t even get the flag lowered to half-staff.

But it shook Switzerland to its core. A deranged, ex-soldier had taken his Army issued SG550 rifle and devastated the City of Zug.

The Swiss acted quickly, and it was more than just handwringing and sending thoughts and prayers. Mental health screening prior to accepting military conscripts became more intense. Questionable recruits were rejected—and thus unlikely to ever own a gun. Upon discharge, a soldier now had to buy his rifle, and could do so only after passing an additional mental health exam. Anyone unwilling to join a sanctioned Swiss Shooting Club (which are all closely supervised) was likely to have their rifle purchase rigorously questioned.

More and more Swiss started leaving their rifles at the Shooting Clubs. Others might take them home, but were required by Club rules to leave behind any unused ammunition. Ammunition could still be purchased outside the club, but was strictly regulated as to quantity. All guns in the country were registered.

Even before the Zug massacre, concealed carry was prohibited for ordinary citizens. Carry a loaded gun in Texas? You’re considered a hero. Carry a loaded gun in Switzerland, either on your person or in your car? You’ll go to jail.

For the Swiss, firearm ownership is about one thing and one thing only—being able to defend the country and the government. It’s not about self-defense, stand your ground, road rage, or conspiracy theories (buy into any of that in Switzerland, and you’ll probably have your gun confiscated).

In Switzerland, as in most other developed countries, when you talk about America and guns, you get the same response. People won’t exactly come right out and say “you Americans are out of your freaking minds,” but they’ll come close.

And despite what you may have heard, Switzerland doesn’t have the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. That would be the United States. The Swiss are actually 4^th, behind the U.S., Iraq, and Serbia.

And while it’s true the Swiss have a lower murder rate than the U.S., their gun homicide rate is higher than Italy just to the south, and more than twice that of Ireland and Finland.

So much for gun ownership being a miracle cure for crime. But guns in the home do have an impact in Switzerland. It has the second highest suicide rate in western Europe. And domestic violence, when it occurs, is more likely to involve a gun than in most other European countries.

The irony is pretty obvious. As the United States has seemed hellbent to overturn any regulation of firearms over the past decades, the Swiss, viewed by some American gun advocates as a gun utopia, has been tightening its gun laws. Packing heat, stand your ground, open carry, concealed carry, non-registration, no-regulation gun laws are viewed as unthinkable.

Even more ironically, firearms and firearms training in Switzerland is much more aligned with the intent of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution than are our current laws in America.

And it’s likely to continue. Recently, nation-wide referenda prohibiting possession of ammunition in the home, as well as stipulations that all government-issued rifles must be stored in armories, have lost by only narrow margins. Many observers say in a few years, they will likely pass.

When this happens, the myth of Switzerland as Gun Heaven will be completely shattered. And where will we be in America by then? Who knows?

At the rate we’re going, we may have pretty much killed ourselves off by then.

Again, I apologize to anyone I may have offended, either because you think I am too pro-gun or too anti-gun. What I’m trying to do is start a discussion, and make people think. We all need to be doing more of that.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with the last verses of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Saturday Night Special that I used to open this post.

After all, if one of America’s greatest redneck bands sang this, maybe we ought to listen. . .

Handguns are made for killin’/They ain’t no good for nothin’ else/And if you like to drink your whiskey/You might even shoot yourself/

So why don’t we dump ‘em people/To the bottom of the sea/Before some ol’ fool come around here/And wanna shoot maybe you or me/

Mr. Saturday Night Special/Ya got a barrel that’s blue and cold/Ya ain’t good for nothin’/But put a man six feet in a hole.”

dfrey

3 Feb, 2022

Blog

“For all they who take up the sword shall perish with the sword.”—Jesus, Mathew 26:52, from The Bible.

Billy: “Where’s King? Where’s Bobby and Jack Kennedy?”

Jean: “They’re dead.”

Billy: “No, not dead. Their brains blown out because your people won’t even put the same controls on their guns as they do their dogs, their bicycles, their cats or their automobiles.”—from the Movie Billy Jack, 1971.

“We came in last night (and). . .my little son Donny. . .got to make his own AR-15.”—Donald Trump, Jr., describing how his 12-year-old son assembled a semi-automatic rifle in Texas, January 2022.

“I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children/And it’s a hard rain’s ‘a gonna fall.”—Bob Dylan, from the song Hard Rain, 1963.

I’m going to talk about guns. And I may say some things that might be upsetting. This is an incredibly painful topic. But we are in a national crisis. I have friends who’ve lost family members to murder. I have friends who’ve lost family to suicide. I have friends who’ve lost loved ones to firearm accidents.

People sometimes ask if I‘m a liberal or a conservative. I tell them, neither. I’m a moderate.

What do you mean, they say? Explain yourself.

I describe it this way. A moderate is someone who was told by everyone back in the 60’s and 70’s what a conservative they were, and now they’re told they’re a liberal.

My views haven’t changed. But apparently everyone else has.

I’m not against people owning guns. I’m not against people using guns for hunting or target shooting. Just saying that used to get me labeled a conservative.

But I also believe that owning a gun carries responsibility. And that means at least registering a gun so that law enforcement knows that you have it, not carrying concealed weapons in public, and not wandering around the country acting like having a loaded firearm is no different from a talking on a cell phone.

Holding those opinions now, it seems, somehow makes me a liberal.

Like most rural midwestern kids, I grew up around guns. We had a .22 long rifle as well as a single barrel shotgun. The latter was propped up in the corner of my grandparents’ house. I don’t think it had been fired in years.

But I’d sometimes take the .22 squirrel hunting with friends. I don’t think I ever hit anything.

So knowing how to use a gun was no big deal (cleaning them, on the other hand, was a pain). But what no one even thought about doing was bringing them to school, carrying one that was concealed, walking down the street with one, or feeling that they somehow just weren’t “safe” unless they could immediately reach out and grab one.

Years ago, doing any of those things wouldn’t make you a “patriot.” It would have made you sound like some kind of dangerous nutjob.

Of course, none of that’s true today. Largely because of a self-enriching gun lobby, an ignorance of American history, a convoluted Supreme Court decision that perverted the true meaning of the second amendment, and most of all, the promotion of Fear as a marketable product, this country is now swimming guns.

Not just in homes. In churches, restaurants, bars, and schools. Mass shootings have skyrocketed. Accidental deaths have accelerated. Suicide rates—falling in the rest of the world—are climbing significantly in the U.S. And the solution for all of this, according to the gun lobby? Just buy more guns.

Let me lay it on the line. Carrying a gun will not make you safer. It will make it more likely you will kill yourself or someone you care about. It will make it more likely that in a moment of panic, depression, anger, rage, or frustration, you will use it in a moment you and others will regret for the rest of your lives.

Guns don’t make you safer. They just make you feel safer.

We’ve heard the statement a million times. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Gun manufacturers and their promoters in the National Rifle Association have been saying this for years. And it’s made them millions. Fear sells.

The problem is, no one can decide on how you separate good guys from bad guys. I’ve dealt with thousands of people all over the world, and I can tell you that there’s far more blurring than clarity between “good guys” and “bad.”

I’ve seen people I swore were bad guys do some incredibly generous things. I’ve seen people who seemed to be textbook good guys do incredibly stupid and horrible things. I’ve seen the roles reverse in an instant.

And if you’re honest, you have, too.

A good guy gets cut off in traffic, middle fingers shoot up, insults get hurled, and finally, a road rage shooting. A father hears a noise in the closet when no one else is supposed to be home, takes his gun to investigate, opens the door suddenly and shoots the intruder.

It turns out to be his young daughter, playing a trick on her Dad. She dies in his arms.

Gun related “accidents” have been around for as long as there have been guns. But increasing the number of guns, while increasing the Fear Factor (“everyone else out there’s a bad guy, and I have to be ready to use my weapon at a moment’s notice”) is a recipe for disaster.

Let me explain. I’ve known people who’ve purchased a handgun. It made them feel safer. Fine. They started out storing the weapon responsibly. They lock it up, unloaded, away from the kids, with ammunition also locked up in a separate location.

But the Fear starts to gradually return. What if an intruder comes in before they can get to the gun and the ammo? Maybe I’ll keep the gun and the ammo locked in the same place. No, maybe I should keep the gun loaded, and locked.

But what if I misplace the key? How’s it going to protect me from the bad guys then? So the good guy starts keeping the loaded gun out in the open. One day his child finds it. Or he suspects his wife has been cheating. Or he’s just had a really, really bad day. Maybe he gets fired from his job. . .

You know the rest of the story. It happens thousands of times each year in this country.

Every hour of every day, an American child is shot. Some are “accidental,” some are intentional, some are suicides. And no, they don’t all die. Some are “just” maimed or crippled. Some are “just” emotionally scarred for life. Some are just lucky.

When I was a Family Doc in a small Missouri town, a panicked Mother ran into our office carrying her 3-year-old son. “Help him, he’s shot,” she cried.

We got him back to our treatment room. He had a superficial wound to his lower leg where the bullet had simply torn and burned his skin. Antibiotic ointment and a dressing were all that was needed.

“How’d this happen?” I asked the Mother.

She was breathing heavily. “I had my gun on the seat, and it just went off. I must have hit a bump or something, I don’t know. I just heard the shot and then he was crying.

I was taken aback. “Maybe you shouldn’t be carrying a loaded gun in your car like that,” I suggested.

Her expression changed, and she stepped back. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people!” she stammered.

I was shocked. Those of you who know me won’t be surprised that I was pretty blunt in my response. “Well, Ma’am,” I said slowly. “All I can say is that gun almost killed this kid. You need to think about that.”

I never saw her nor the child again. I’m sure the Mother had her own Fears that let her rationalize that what had just happened was no big deal.

It’s just one story of one child and one parent and one gun. People like Dr. Jane Knapp, my medical school classmate and for many years the Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City could tell you many, many more that are far more heartbreaking.

But the story is often the same. Fear drives people to buy guns. Lots of guns. And lots of ammunition. And by whipping up that fear, gunmakers and their allies in the National Rifle Association (NRA), have become incredibly rich.

So maybe we should talk about the NRA for a moment. It’s a much different organization than when I was a kid. Founded in the 1870’s by two Union Army veterans, it was meant to teach firearm safety and accuracy. The veterans felt that the reason the Civil War had lasted so long was because most of the Army’s inductees frankly couldn’t shoot worth a damn. They believed that in a future war, the Army could be more effective in defending against the enemy if recruits came in with better skills.

The pair had no interest in large capacity magazines, night vision goggles, or body armor. Instead, it was basic firearm instruction. In addition, hunting also became a focus.

And into the first part of the twentieth century, that remained true. Many of the laws restricting the carry of handguns, as well as laws against owning automatic weapons, were written with the help of the NRA.

But by the latter half of the twentieth century, the organization began to mutate. New leadership in the organization (led by a former border agent who, it was later learned, had been convicted of murder) sought to portray any gun legislation as a secret plot to steal private guns. Suddenly, the NRA was no longer an organization that was focused on building shooting skills to defend our government from enemies, it was an organization that preached that our government now was the enemy.

Donations poured in. Gun sales skyrocketed. And one by one, decades-old laws intended to keep Americans safe were overturned.

Ultimately, a right-wing Supreme Court ruled that the second amendment to the American Constitution, which linked “a well-regulated militia” to firearms, somehow guaranteed Americans the right to carry firearms practically anywhere.

I won’t go into the details, but to my nonlegal mind (and the minds of a lot of legal folks who know way more than me) the Court’s decision was downright goofy, and driven more by a right-wing agenda than by fair and sound analysis. But hey, I guess that’s why I’m not a lawyer.

In the meantime, Americans are killing themselves and one another in numbers that are practically unthinkable in the rest of the world.

Some of you may be hopping mad by now. Some because I don’t think all guns should be outlawed. Others, because you think I’m somehow anti-gun.

And if you fall into this latter group, you may be thinking two things. First, weren’t guns everywhere in the old west, and without them wouldn’t the west be ruled by bad guys?

And second, why aren’t you talking about Switzerland? They have guns everywhere, and no crime whatsoever, right?

Actually, I have plenty to say about both of those statements (they’re both wrong, by the way). But we’ve run out of space.

See you next time.