Wiston Papers

The Olympic Games 2012 as Metaphor for America

The Olympic Games for decades were a showcase of American athletic talent and dominance.  It was a fitting metaphor for America’s preeminence in other areas such as politics, economics and technology.

Perhaps then it is not surprising that the uneven performance of Team U.S.A. so far in the London games of 2012 matches the undeniable decline of America on the world stage that stretches far beyond the Olympics this year.

The four legs of the U.S. men’s 4 X 100 Freestyle Relay represents all too  accurately the history of America from World War II to the present.

FIRST LEG

Swimmer Nathan Adrian explodes into first place as the gun barks the start of the race.  Much as the United States emerged from the Second World War as the leader of the free world.  Washington in the next 20 years flexed her muscle fighting for the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe, stopping the spread of Communism beyond Eastern Europe, and helping to create the United Nations as a forum for international debate and decision.

SECOND LEG

Adrian retains the lead for the U.S. team as Michael Phelps enters the water.  The joy of Phelps’s earlier swimming victories reminded us of the the optimism that marked the start of the 1960s in America with the  the Camelot presidency of John F. Kennedy, his charismatic family, and his pledge to place a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.  Although the Vietnam War would hang over American society, social protests challenge our conventional wisdom, and the U.S. would be buffeted by economic turmoil as we entered the 1980s, we  hung on to our image as the leader of the free world much as Phelps held America’s swimming lead for Cullen Jones.

THIRD LEG

Just as President Reagan made the nation feel good again and paved the way for the heady economic days of the 90s  and helped lead the free world's celebration of the collapse of Communism and the former Soviet Union, Jones kept the hope of a U.S. swimming victory alive as he held America’s lead for Ryan Lochte.

FOURTH LEG

Despite a strong start, however, Lochte failed to maintain the lead he had received just as America has failed to protect its legacy as a beacon of political, social and economic superiority.  Just as Lochte saw France gradually catch up and eclipse him at the end of the race so has America watched as other world players such as China, India and Brazil have caught and surpassed us by encroaching on our foreign and domestic markets, taking U.S. jobs off shore, and displaying Washington’s weakness to respond to the challenge--much like Lochte’s fade at the end.

The Olympics Team U.S.A. metaphor for America’s stature in the world may not please some fans of our athletes or those who still believe in the socio-politico-hegemony of Washington.  But one fact is indisputable--we no longer can claim superiority or invincibility either as athletes or as a political, economic and social power.  

At the end of the Olympic Games 2012, however,  the U.S. will be able to stand proudly in London and elsewhere in the world as we compete in other fields.  But we no longer stand alone and that perhaps is how it should be.   

Steve Coon

July 30, 2012

Wiston Papers

Just a little Iowa weather...

“Here, John.  Drink up.  This will get some of your color back,” our waitress, Beverly, suggested as she poured the first round of our weekly conversation.

“You do look a little ashen,” I noticed.  “What happened?”

“Oh, I was in the basement last night.”

That’s better than the doghouse,” I philosophized.  “Wait, you’re no longer married.”

“It was the storm,” John explained.

“What storm?” I wondered.

“What storm?  That horrific weather that roured through last night.”

“Well, we did get a little moisture,” I observed calmly.

“Moisture?” John reacted in astonishment.  “The rain was torrential.”

“We needed the rain.  The crops are dry,”  I rationalized.

“And all that lightening.  Did you see it light up the sky?”

“There were moments of brightness,” I acknowledged as I sipped my coffee comfortably.

“And the thunder,” John commented energetically.  “It was horrific.”

Yes, some noise to be sure,” I agreed.

“The wind, man, my lord, it was lashing at my windows,”  John described it vividly.

“A bit of a breeze to be sure,”  I smiled slightly and drank almost arrogantly.

John stared at me for a long moment then asked, “How can you be so calm about this?”

“I’ve lived in Iowa my whole life, John.  It just comes with the territory.  We usually get several storms every summer...a normal summer not like this year...but several storms with lots of rain, lightning and thunder.

“How’s that hand doing now?” Beverly asked me as she refilled my cup.  “Stopped shaking yet?”

“Yeah, you’re hand is twitching a bit,” John noticed.

“Uh..oh...it’s nothing,” as I tried to hide it in my lap.

“Usually happens after a storm,” Beverly clarified as she poured a second round for John.

“Ah hah!” erupted John.  “You were scared.  Did you go to the basement, too?

“Well, maybe just to...you know...check on some things, “ I confessed sheepishly.

“Men,”  Beverly muttered as she picked up the bill, money and tip.  “Big...brave...men.”

Steve Coon
July 25, 2012

Wiston Papers

Punishing Penn State or Protecting Our Children?

What price can you pay to compensate young boys and girls for the type of betrayal they suffer at the hands of a sexual predator?  

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced yesterday that it was $60-million.  That was the monetary punishment levied against Penn State following the conviction of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

In addition, Penn State’s football program won’t be able to play in post-season bowl games for four years, looses scholarships for its players, and 111 football victories dating back to 1998 are  wiped from its record.

None of this, of course, can ever ease the pain inflicted on the young boys who trusted a man whose serial abuse was long ignored by Penn State coaches and administrators.  Everyone who allowed this to happen during their tenure is culpable of complicity.

I don’t care about the penalties imposed on the university.  I don’t care that Head Coach Joe Paterno’s legacy has been forever tarnished.  And I don’t care how many years Jerry Sandusky spends behind bars.

What I do care about is the countless young people who will continue to bear the emotional scars from this deplorable history.  Add to the Penn State cover up the equally unconscionable evil perpetrated by Catholic priests against young people and you have a shameful pattern of criminal, immoral violations against fellow human beings by the very persons who should be their protectors.

We can never fully compensate the victims.  The only hope is that we can learn from these despicable events and try to identify and stop future predators.

It will take people who are courageous enough to speak up for the children.  There can never be any excuse for failure to act on behalf of our children--the most vulnerable members of our society.

I'm afraid that there will be too much analysis in the days and weeks ahead about the impact that the NCAA  penalty with have on the future of football at Penn State.  Instead the discussion should focus how we can make sure this sexual abuse never happens again---anywhere.

Steve Coon

July 24, 2012

Wiston Papers

A few words about words

English is a living, evolving language.  As with all organisms it adapts to changing environments.  But not every environmental change produces positive results.

Those of you have read my various contributions over the years know that I have strong feelings about the abuse of certain words.

I dislike the seemingly mindless obsession of the media to attach “icon” to virtually every famous person, place or thing.  This practice persuades me that the writers who employ this word have never read a dictionary.  They don’t know the definition and have never encountered synonyms like “famous, legendary, historic, prominent, inspirational, notorious.”  Almost any one of these choices would be more accurate than icon.

My opposition to using the noun “impact” as a verb instead of the correct verb “affect” is widely known.  Also is my stance on the misuse of the verb “mix” instead of the noun “mixture.”

Today my irritation arises from the insistence of journalists to describe every out-of-business company as “shuttered.”  We no longer “close” factories or “lock their doors.”  Today we just shutter them--even in the case of failed online ventures.  I’ve never seen an electronic shutter (except on a camera).

When companies go out of business they don’t “lay off” employees anymore.  Previously  workers were “reduced in force” (sounds almost benign). They used to be either “dismissed” (less kind)  or “fired” (even harsher).  

Today American businesses don’t even consider their workers as human beings when cutting them loose. Now companies “shed” employees as if they were some disgusting, dead, useless artifact to be discarded quickly as we pinch our noses to avoid the stench.  

Media coverage of the collapsed housing market has resulted in the almost equally disastrous use of “underwater” to describe people who own homes with declining values.  We certainly can’t use the accurate term “undervalued” to describe such houses.  Instead we attach “underwater” then have to explain it every time.

Governor Mitt Romney is the Republican Party Presidential candidate.  But the media insist on calling him the “presumptive” GOP nominee.  Of course, we don’t need to call him the nominee at all until after the party’s national convention.  Right now it’s enough to describe him simply as the Republican candidate because all other GOP contenders have dropped out of the race.  

Finally, not everything or everyone is “awesome.”  I use the word sparingly.  It’s appropriate when describing the universe and the barely comprehensible distances between stars and galaxies.  I consider the earth’s oceans awesome.  They cover nearly 80 percent of the planet.  And the Grand Canyon struck me as awesome when I first saw it in person.  

English continues to change, we adopt new words, abandoned old ones, and misuse familiar ones.  I accept that.  I just don’t have to like it.  And I really, really think that journalists should be held to a higher standard when working with words.  

But this trend is not surprising when you look at the media landscape and see so many iconic newspapers shuttered or underwater, shedding their workers in the mix and impacting the economy.  Perhaps I’m presumptive, but it’s awesome.

Steve Coon

July 18, 2012

Wiston Papers

Nothing New in Middle East Peace Talks:  Here's Why

I have long been cynical of realistic prospects that the United States--or any nation--can be a successful broker in arranging a permanent peace treaty between the Israel and the Palestinians.

As a young man I was happy with the Israeli victory in the Six Day war of 1967.  But my pro-Israeli sentiments quickly eroded when then Israeli capital Tel Aviv adopted a clearly provocative policy of building Israeli settlements in post-war occupied lands.

To me it was as if the U.S. had lost a brief border skirmish with Canada.  Canadian troops marched 100 miles into America from Washington State east to Minnesota and soon began to build communities for Canadian citizens.

Americans would be outraged and would refuse any long-term peace settlement with Ottawa until our historic borders were returned and these towns were abandoned.

Add to this the tension fueled by the generations-old cultural imperative that any real or perceived crime against either a Jewish or Muslim family requires a similar degree of retaliation.

Now imagine similar cultural held beliefs by Canadians and Americans toward each other.  Mix those with Canadian military occupation and civilian settlement constructions inside a line 100 miles inside the United States stretching from Washington to Minnesota.

Do you realistically believe that any outside nation could successfully or quickly negotiate a permanent peace agreement between Ottawa and Washington?

Of course not.  That’s why 45 years after the Six Day War there is no Peace in the Middle East.

Only if Israel (or Canada) were to withdraw its troops to original borders  and abandoned its settlements in occupied territory would there be any realistic hope of the start of serious peace efforts.

And I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon no matter who occupies in the White House.

Steve Coon

July 17, 2012

Wiston Papers

So, call me, maybe?

“I’m depressed,” John confessed as he slumped back into his chair after our waitress, Beverly, poured our first round of coffee.

“Why?” I asked with my customary caution of where this might lead.

“Don’t you see?

“Uh...know...I don’t see anything out of the normal about you,” I conceded.

“Yeah, because I had to return all of my Olympic sports wear that I usually have on.  It’s all made in China,”  John shook his head.

“Oh...now I see.  But cheer up, John, the games are about to begin with or without made-in-China gear.”

“But it won’t be the same.  It’s just so...sad...and un-American,” John slowly sipped his coffee.

“Hey, I just met you,  And this is crazy,”  Beverly sings and begins to sway as she pours more coffee at the counter.   “But here's my number,  So call me, maybe?”

“What about your Gay and Lesbian Marriage Counseling business you were starting” I wondered.

“Oh that...yeah...well I’m thinking of outsourcing that overseas.  I can hire some call centers in India to do the counseling.”

“Uh..John...I don’t understand...”I began to ask.

“Well, most of my clients won’t understand the Indian accent either, but I at least I can save administrative costs,”  he shook his head.

“Your stare was holdin',  Ripped jeans, skin was showin,” Beverly begins to dance slowly between the counter and the booths. “Hot night, wind was blowin' Where you think you're going, baby?”

“Have you tried any medicine to help your depression?”  I suggested.

“"No way, Man, haven’t you..you know...heard?”  John lapsed almost into a stupor.  “I mean...a bunch of Israeli science dudes have just developed some marijuana without--uh--you know...the high, Man.  I can't smoke the weed now for my 'medical condition.'  I mean--uh--you know--Dude--only the real stuff works for me.  I gotta get high for my--like-- 'medicine' to kick in.”

“John,  maybe you need something to occupy your mind.  Maybe a new project, a hobby perhaps.  You could take up music,” I began to brainstorm.  “Say, weren’t you going to run for Congress?” It dawned on me.  “This made-in-China Olympic clothing could be your issue.”

“You’re a genius,” John sat up and smiled.

“Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m...”  I feigned modesty.

“That’s just the ticket,” as he sipped his last bit of coffee and jumped up.

“Good for you, John.  So you’re going to run for Congress after all on the Made-in-America Olympic Uniform issue?”

“No way, man.  “I’m going to take up singing,” as he sweeps up Beverly and they begin to dance.

“And all the other boys,  Try to chase me,  But here's my number,  So call me, maybe?”

            “Just shoot me now, please,”  I bang my head on the table.

Steve Coon

July 15, 2012