The Party of Lincoln

Published in edited form May 11, 2016 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette


     It’s been an unquiet week in my adopted home town, and anywhere else the television or radio has been on, thanks to the Donald and his band of happy followers.  Pundits, blue and red alike, have been swarming the microphones like bees whose hive has been hauled down the freeway in the middle of the afternoon, leaving them behind:  lost, and making lots of unhappy buzzing sounds.

     I don’t know about you, but I haven’t heard very much that makes sense to me.  I’m sure it’s my lack of political acumen, whatever that is.  But whatever the Republicans or the Democrats are going to do as a result of the unspeakable prospect of the current presumptive Republican nominee winning the Presidency, it seems unlikely to make more sense.  The Republicans have been out-Republicaned; the Tea Party’s stash of tea has been dumped over the side of their ship.  The bullies in Washington have been out-bullied, and if the show must go on, it’s going to take some anti-bullying expertise, plain and simple, not a review of conservative values or party unification (except perhaps in performing a “bullying” intervention.)

           

     Speaking of conservative values, over the last few months I have noticed several Republican speakers referring to their party as “the party of Lincoln.”  I associate Lincoln and his presidency with far more liberal values, not to mention sensibilities of the common folk, than we see expressed regularly in either party today.  I found substance for that belief in Stephen Natoli’s book, Liberally Speaking (2015.)  After noting that the Republican Party “was founded in direct response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which threatened to allow the extension of slavery into new Northern territories,” Natoli wrote:

“The Republican Party of those days was the more liberal party.  It stood for human rights over property rights, standing as it did for the restriction of slavery.  It stood for the precedence of nationally guaranteed human rights over the idea that ‘state’s rights’ permitted localities to nullify national laws or void human freedoms when and where they wished.  It stood for nationally-encouraged economic modernization and development that helped the people.”

           

     The creation of the Party of Lincoln was preceded by the creation of a third party called the Free Soil Party after the Wilmot Proviso, which would have prohibited slavery in the southwestern territories acquired from Mexico (including California,) was defeated in Congress:

           

“Disappointed by the ambivalent position of the Whig Party toward slavery, ‘Conscience’ Whigs held a convention in August 1848 at Buffalo, N.Y.  There they were joined by delegates from 17 states drawn from the Liberty Party and the antislavery faction of the New York Democrats, known as ‘Barnburners.’  The Free-Soilers’ historic slogan calling for ‘free soil, free speech, free labor and free men’ attracted small farmers, debtors, village merchants, and household and mill workers....  In 1854 the disorganized remnants of the party were absorbed into the newly formed Republican Party, which carrie54 the disorganized remnants of the party were absorbed into the newly formed Republican Party, which carrigh several party memd the Free-Soil idea of opposing the expansion of slavery one step further by condemning slavery as a moral evil as well.”  (“Free Soil Party,”Encyclopedia Britannica, online.)

     We might ask “Are we at a similar moment now, where dissatisfaction with the status quo in Washington could lead to the creation of a new party?”  I don’t think so, but maybe it’s just my lack of political acumen again.

     I watched the supporters behind the Donald on tv this morning, one holding a sign that read “The silent majority stands with Donald Trump.”  I think about them often, that silent majority.  I think they’ve fallen in love with someone who can speak his mind, even if that mind is like a sailboat with no rudder.  They stand with him because they cannot stand up for themselves.  And I worry for them because, from years past I know how it feels to discover that the one you fell so hard for, hoping to be redeemed, doesn’t really see you and has been using you all along to bolster his fragile (if bombastic) ego, that his words were lightly filled balloons barely tied.  It always feels bad, but the result can be good.  I just hope that therapeutic and truly redemptive moment happens before November.

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Trudy Wischemann is an apolitical pundit who writes in Lindsay.  You can send her your opinions on this election c/o P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.

 

 

 

The Letter

Published May 4, 2016 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette


     I received some interesting correspondence this week.  Some of it was solicited, comments from colleagues responding to my request for help.  I am finally crafting the foreword to our collection of writings on agriculture and the common good, and I wanted their input to make this small piece of writing represent the large effort of the book.  Although I don’t always like being corrected, their comments helped strengthen my sentences as well as my position.  Every drop was helpful.

           

     Another piece of correspondence, however, was less than helpful.  It was a letter elicited by my April 20^th column, “Disappointing News” from a reader in Strathmore.  Let me say that such letters are always welcome, no matter the content, because they tell me the column is serving my main purpose in writing it: to get people expressing themselves about, and on behalf of our communities. This letter, however, triggered doubts about my ability to communicate.

           

     The writer of the letter was kind in his criticism if also seemingly confused in his facts (i.e., his facts do not match mine.)  His subject was what has happened in the City of Lindsay over the last couple of years; his purpose in writing the letter appeared to be to correct my version of those events.  He also expressed what he thinks should be done, solutions which run contrary to my prescriptions. 

           

     I don’t know where he got his facts.  Perhaps it was from reading the newspapers.  The point of my column that week was that the reporters had chosen narrowly from the facts available, and that this selectivity had skewed the truthfulness of their reports.  Perhaps I was too subtle.

           

     I suspect, however, that the letter’s writer had his facts delivered to him from another source, someplace nearer and dearer than the printed page.  That’s fine.  That’s where most of us get our facts, after all.

           

     The writer of the letter recommended that I (and my fellow discontents) educate ourselves and get a copy of the city charter, then hold our councilmembers accountable to that lovely legal document.  I wish that would help.  But I’ve had a copy on my shelf since 2010 when the citizenry began expressing their discontent and dismay, first at the exorbitant salaries Lindsay city officials were paying themselves, then at the debacle over the stacked low-income housing loans made to 13 city employees.  This effort to “hold accountable” the council culminated in the resignation of former city manager Scot Townsend, who departed with a $35,000 severance package despite the fact that he quit (i.e., he was not fired or asked to resign,) and the exit of several other higher-ups, including finance director Kenny Walker.  The scramble that followed wasn’t pretty, and the perpetrators got away scot-free, so to speak.

           

     The writer of the letter also suggested we initiate a recall if our efforts are not taken seriously. He apparently is unaware of 2011-2012 recall effort of all 5 city council members, which did not culminate in a recall election but which (I feel pretty sure) resulted in the non-re-election of 2 of those members in 2012.  The effort took us one step in the right direction, no doubt, but it also burned out a great deal of the community’s available energy.

           

    Reflecting on that time took me back to my battle to save the Central California Citrus Exchange building from demolition in 2013, which our current city manager, Bill Zigler (then holding the position of city planner) wanted so badly he could taste it.  That building was eventually saved, thank God, by the new owner who has a passion for buildings with historical value and design integrity.  But this effort to bring Lindsay into the 1980’s regarding historic preservation was followed quickly by the loss of several other historic buildings, including its first hotel and Stamper Motors.  We still do not have even an inventory of our historic resources much less an update of our badly-outdated general plan.

           

     Looking back on the last six years wasn’t particularly pleasant for me, but perhaps it was useful after all.  I’ve learned the hard way that people are inclined to hear what they want to hear, to believe what seems to best serve their purposes.  Changing those beliefs takes something more than crafty little sentences on a page of newsprint.  

           

     It takes speaking truth in love, a Quaker concept I have not yet mastered but admire when I hear it.  The next six months, as we approach the big election, will give us all lots of opportunities to hone our skills in this spiritual art.  Let us begin.

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Trudy Wischemann is a remedial student of plain speech who writes despite her lack of education.  You can send her your appropriate phrases c/o P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.

The Last Word

 Published April 27, 2016 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette  

    

     Last Wednesday a large number of people gathered at the Exeter Memorial Building to listen to 7 of the current candidates for Tulare County Supervisor in District #1.  It was generously moderated by KTIP Radio’s PK the Redhead and sponsored by the Tulare Co. League of Women Voters.  The candidates introduced themselves, answered 6 prepared questions, plus 6 more chosen from the audience’s suggestions.     

    

     The prepared questions ranged from “What do you see as the role of county government?” and methods for constituency outreach, to issues like water and economic development.  Audience questions were more specific, seeking answers on things like homelessness and mental health, parks and recreation, land use planning, job training, water rights and leveraging money from the state’s water bond.  By the end of the program, when each candidate summarized his interest in and qualifications for being our next supervisor, most people had an impression of each man’s potential performance in that job, as well as how we might feel about that.

   

     Some candidates were greater politicians than others, which didn’t necessarily work in their favor in the current political climate.  Others were more well-versed and experienced in county and city government.  Yet others had cultural experiences that qualified them for being closer to certain constituent groups.  All claimed to understand the needs of the county as a whole.     

    

     As I scribbled my notes furiously, trying to keep up with both what was said and what was not, trying to record the nuances of body gestures and facial expressions, I couldn’t tell what I was missing in the dialog.  Yet when I found this quote by Aldo Leopold (reprinted in the April 2016 issue of The Sun magazine,) I knew I’d stumbled on a defining characteristic, a way of dividing the pack of candidates into those I might want as supervisor, and those I would not want.  Simply, I want to choose someone who understands how important it is to maintain the organic, ecological health of this land we call home. 

     “The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism.  Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it.  The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant:  “What good is it?”  If the . . . whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not.”           

     

     The issue of water supply (from both underground aquifers and surface storage facilities) has a way of revealing who understands, and who only thinks they do.  Forgive me, but those who think Tulare County will stand to benefit anything from the construction and operation of Temperance Flat Dam, or from increased Delta diversions of all that water “wasting” to the ocean (at the cost of extinction of the anadromous fish species of smelt, cutthroat, and salmon) are either lying or wallowing in the last word in ignorance.  

     Several of the current candidates are adamant about fighting the federal and state governments to preserve our existing water supplies and water rights systems, without recognizing the existing inequities to poor communities, small farms, and the remaining fish and wildlife species with whom we are legally and morally required to share that water.  Only three candidates considered other solutions; only two of those saw a future in conservation and locally-arranged agreements for recharging aquifers and re-using wastewater.  The rest are still locked in that pie-in-the-sky belief that California agriculture feeds the world and thus justifies satisfying the unending thirst of agribusiness, regardless of cost. 

     All the other issues – poor communities, development of tourism or other industry, unemployment, providing parks and recreation, even protecting property values -  all hinge on our recognition of the critical importance of protecting the ecological health of this land.  If we allow it to be destroyed, either deliberately or through the last word in ignorance, someday we will find ourselves fighting over straws like they do in the Middle East, where once the Tigris and Euphrates ran through fertile farmland and fed the world. 

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Trudy Wischemann is a writer based in Lindsay.  You can send her your candidate observations c/o P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.