Opinion

I HAVE A CONFESSION. Here lately, the media has consumed me. I find myself constantly on Twitter, Facebook and reading news articles. It’s all dark and each day the outlook seems worse.

LIKE MANY AMERICANS, the protests and civil unrest across the country this past week have given us pause to reflect upon our great nation’s promises and ideals, as well as its injustices and shortcomings.

LIKE MANY OF YOU I watched yesterday’s events in front of the White House unfold in real time. It was a stage managed show of force, using law abiding citizens as expendable extras in a macho movie and the Bible as a prop for a macabre photo-op, as awkward and isolated an image as history has ever recorded. Every element was choreographed. The Attorney General coming out to review his troops. The timing of the charge into the crowd. The sound of explosions in the background of the get tough speech. The triumphant stroll with the dominator attended by his entourage. The pantomime at the church. I watched it all.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis condemned President Trump for making a “mockery of our Constitution” in a statement to The Atlantic on Wednesday, saying he was “appalled” at the president’s response to mass protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

CONFUSED? NERVOUS THAT WHAT YOU HEARD Tuesday about how to vote in Texas was illegal again Wednesday? Fretting that you might accidentally commit fraud by casting your ballot incorrectly? Sometimes, if you watch too closely, you can’t tell the direction something is going; it’s all stops, starts, and misdirection.

A POST ON FACEBOOK late last week was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The post read: “I say we close down the national media for 30 days and watch 80 percent of the world’s problems go away;-).”Typically, I do not reply to such posts, but I’d had enough of the media-bashing, so I replied, “I say no.”

Yessir, yessir, six bags full. Of garbage, in this case. Two frequent visitors to the Canadian River Wagon Bridge collected this fine assortment of humanity’s discards along the river banks on Memorial Day. Knowing from previous visits what they would find, they provisioned with large Hefty trash bags before heading to the local beach, and set to work cleaning up the mess. Among their findings? Used “disposable” diapers and feminine hygiene products, empty aluminum beer and soda cans, castaside clothing, and more. It’s not all that hard to make the world a better place, as Madi and Nikki did. It just takes a little thought and effort.

IN MY OWN VERSION of social isolation, I’ve spent as many free hours as possible studying the birds and squirrels and hummingbirds that inhabit my backyard, thinking perhaps I could learn something of solitude.

IN TEXAS, WE VALUE community. And right now, community looks a lot different than what we’re used to. No large weddings or birthday parties. No band or orchestra recitals or spring plays. No Little League or youth soccer. The Summer Olympics have been delayed for at least a year, and professional sports are having to rethink their seasons, while we rethink our daily lives. The list of cancellations and postponements is nearly endless.