Always faithful

“When the love of the poor shall one day turn to hate
When the patience of the workers give away
Would be better for the rich if they never been born
So they laid Jesus Christ in the grave”
“Jesus Christ,” by Woody Guthrie

Tom Wade went back to Madison, Wisconsin, this time with son Brady, and heard Michael Moore address the tens of thousands of demonstrators. According to the Wall Street Journal, Moore read from a statement he titled “America is Not Broke.” The filmmaker said, “Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had–America is not broke, not by a long shot, the country is awash in cash… 400 obscenely wealthy individuals…most of whom benefited in some way from the multitril­lion dollar taxpayer bailout of 2008, now have more cash, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. It is a shame. If you can’t bring yourself to call that a financial coup d’état, then you are simply not being honest with what you know in your heart to be true.” On the soundtrack to Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” is Merle Haggard singing “Jesus Christ.”

No gaming so watched the Sunday news shows. Two conservative commentators said more Republicans haven’t declared for president because they think Obama is unbeatable. Let’s hope. Gingrich and Huckabee are goofballs, and Mitt Romney will have to prostitute himself to win over rightwing crazies. Concerning Huckabee’s enormous weight gain, the joke is that he’s trying emulate rotund New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a tea Party darling who issued a Shermanesque statement declaring he won’t run.

Cooked scrambled eggs and bacon, fried portabella mushrooms and onions and raisin toast. Watched the Bulls beat the hated Miami Heat; both LeBron James and Dwayne Wade missed shots in the final seconds. Their coach said there was crying in the dressing room afterwards. Toni made corn beef, potatoes, and cabbage for us and the Hagelbergs prior to two rounds of bridge (Cheryl was the winner). Dick took home one of the ten new issues Boomhower sent me. We found them Sunday morning between the front doors. Kudos to the mailman for not making us pick them up at the post office. Chuck Gallmeier, a TRACES subscriber, offered congratulations on the article. He agreed that it was a nuanced piece that didn’t glorify Vivian Carter but recognized what a terrific impact she had on the popular music of her day. He wants to continue the tradition of having former Faculty Organization chairs open meetings and asked if I’d introduce John Ban in April.

Finished a draft of an article for TRACES about Maria Arredondo based largely on my Foreword to “Maria’s Journey.” I’ll probably revise it several times before submitting it. Cousin Victor Cowan Lane (same name as my dad), whom I’ve never met, sent me information about the Lane family tree. I emailed back: “Thanks so much for the information about our ancestors. If you send me your address, maybe I could reciprocate by sending you a copy of the magazine I edit. By the way my grandson, who goes by James (“no nicknames please”) is very proud to be James Buchanan Lane V.”

I told English prof George Bodmer about coming across the word bildungsroman, and he said he uses it all the time in his Children’s Literature course. Of German origin it refers to novels where a child undergoes a journey during which he is transformed psychologically into an adult. Bodmer mentioned Huck Finn and Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” as examples. It would be fun to sit in on one of George’s classes.

In the student union I spotted Dean Mark Hoyert participating in a faculty-student trivia contest. With the questions dealing with cartoon characters and TV ads he had the fewest points but finally rang in successfully by identifying “Semper Fi” as the slogan of the Marine Corps. Nearby, signing up folks for a Thursday rally at the Indy statehouse, were Labor Studies mainstays Mike Olszanski and Thandabantu Iverson. Their flyer asked students to “Stand against the attacks on all working families!!” It contained this quote by martin Luther King: “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans as ‘right to work.’ It provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘works.’ Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining.”

“Boogeyman” Jay Keck ordered more copies of “Brothers in Arms” and was in a joking mood, ending his letter with these words: “I am no longer bipolar. I am bisexual, Buy here, pay here, Bicentennial, and Bye Bye Miss American Pie. Thank you my brother, payback time, high noon, Semper Fi.” What a great mind. His calling card is called “Incoming: Flashbacks from the Foxhole.” On the upper left-hand corner is inscribed “PTSD: In Country 13 months, in therapy ever since.”