PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - THE CHOICE IS STARK BUT IT MUST BE MADE

Odd as it may seem, this presidential election is being fought between the normal and the weird, the logical and the fantastical, and the old and new America.

How did we get here? Well, battle lines were drawn with the Covid-19 pandemic that continues to roil our collective consciousness.

Despite this potential cataclysm, the country mostly pulled together, made sacrifices, and amazingly here we are back on our feet with the world’s strongest and most resilient economy.

So why aren’t we taking a well-earned bow?

Because of inflation, stupid!

But every developed country suffered from inflation, many much worse than us.

You don’t get it, man, we Americans are exceptional, such things shouldn’t happen to us!

Unfortunately, supply chains failed to reopen quickly enough, Putin invaded Ukraine, the Houthis threatened shipping lines, and we pumped bucketfuls of money into a collapsing economy to get it functioning again.

Since we live in a free market society, prices shot up and we paid them, though common sense often screamed out, “You gotta be kidding me.”

The rate of inflation has dropped to a healthy 2.4%, but prices will remain high as long as we’re willing to pay them. It’s called capitalism, and no one wants to deprive big business of its continuing profits.

The good news - we’re blessed with a booming economy.  Unemployment is currently 4.1%, wages are beating inflation, household incomes are up, financial markets and 401Ks are at an all-time high, and with interest rates dropping the housing market should soon begin to thaw.

The pertinent question in this election is – do you want to risk it all?

 

Because make no mistake, Donald Trump’s plan for across the board tariffs of 20% with a 60% special on China could send our economy reeling.

His claim that the penalized countries will pay for our tariffs beggars belief. Remind you of Mexico forking out for his wall?  

In reality, China et al. will just increase their prices, and John and Mary American will end up paying the piper, causing another rush of inflation; not to mention, the aggrieved countries will raise tariffs on our exports which could lead to a trade war. Welcome to “weird” and say goodbye to a booming economy!

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Mr. Trump’s mass deportation of illegal immigrants, the economic consequences will be severe, especially on the agriculture and construction sectors, and will certainly lead to higher wage costs and increased inflation.

The Harris economic plans seem normal by comparison, and tend more towards Biden Light (not a bad thing). She offers some decent social  improvements including Medicare payments for home health care, but the eye-catcher is her proposed $25K downpayment to first-time house buyers.

A little on the generous side, Madam Vice-President, considering that the national debt now exceeds $35 trillion? 

Oh, for the days when the Republican Party was fiscally sensitive. But with the “King of Debt” offering scattershot tax cuts that have been estimated to cost up to $15 trillion over the next 10 years, fiscal sense is a rarity in both parties.

And how about logical versus fantastical? I give you the “J6 Hostages.” Bad enough that President Trump refused to accept the will of the people, both in electoral college and popular vote, but he still lauds his “patriots” who ran riot through the Capitol Building, injuring 174 police officers and leading to the deaths of 4 others. He even promises to release jailed rioters!

As for the battle between the new and old Americas. It boils down to the choice of swallowing a daily diet of lies, paranoia and conspiracy theories or voting for democracy, the rule of law, and common sense. 

 

At some point most presidencies face an existential crisis. Covid-19 rear-ended President Trump and found him wanting. Anyone for a healing shot of bleach? 

His ambivalence about vaccines has led to dissent and distrust nationwide, so much so that the next lethal virus will have a head start and take many lives before it too is stalled.

As Hurricane Helene has shown in Asheville, no part of the US is immune from the effects of global warming. So who do you want in the White House - someone reasonable or a myopic conspiracist who claims that climate change is a hoax?

The choice is stark. Do you favor normal or weird, logical or fantastical, and what kind of America do you wish for your children, one driven by lies, exaggeration and misinformation or fact, science and reason? 

MAGICAL CATSKILLS & MUSICAL MEMORIES

I grew up on the banks of the Slaney River, right where it flows into Wexford Harbor on its way to the Irish Sea. There was water everywhere, lapping under old wooden piers or crashing along the broad strands of County Wexford.

I’ve always found it hard to live far from the coast. Even here in the thick of Manhattan I’m within strolling distance of the surging Hudson or the murky East River.

Recently, however, I chanced upon a picture in the New York Times of a demure rocky creek and wondered why my heart jumped for joy. Turned out, it flowed through Leeds, New York.

I had spent a magical summer in this one-horse Catskills village, and hardly a day passed when I didn’t sit on those rocks admiring the stream that gurgled its way down a series of micro-falls before settling in a clear pool.

I had read Kerouac’s On The Road there, written songs, smoked joints, made out, and whatever else you did in a laid back paradise in the 1970’s.

Pierce Turner and I had been hired to play the summer season at nearby O’Shea’s Irish Center.

 “Old” Gerry from Cahersiveen ran the bar, Mrs. O’Shea looked after the rooms and meals, while “Young” Jerry kept an eye out for his parents when his Hunter Mountain ski resort was on hiatus for the summer.

We alternated sets with Trinity II, Mike O’Brien (from The Clancy Brother clan) and Chris King (a St. Louis intellectual), both singer/guitarists and raconteurs who brought the house down nightly with their staccato adlibs, harmonious vocals, and genuine sincerity. Turner & Kirwan played everything from The Kinks to our own “Irish Acid Rock”, so the large back room of O’Shea’s was always bouncing.

We performed from 8pm to 3am to larger crowds as the weeks went by, but especially when the young Italian-Americans from nearby Pleasant Acres Resort discovered “you can actually dance to these Micks!”

Both bands drank liberally and some of us played poker right through the dawn, before devouring  Mrs. O’Shea’s Irish breakfast and retiring for the “night.”

In the late afternoon, we re-grouped and swam in the natural pool or reclined on the aforementioned rocks where we dozed or dreamed.

It was a perfect summer. Turner & Kirwan had been scuffling from gig to gig around New York City. For the first time we could relax, the money was good, and there was nothing to spend it on, except the occasional round in nearby Gilfeather’s Sligo House where The Joe Nellany Band, featuring Tommy Mulvihill and Jerry Finlay, reigned.

For well over a century the Irish have been holidaying in the Catskills, as they prepare for the year ahead in New York, Albany, Tipperary Hill, or distant Buffalo.

The prices are right, people friendly, the music is hot, the beer cold, everyone dances, romance is in the air. What more could you ask for?

By the end of that perfect summer I knew I’d never live in Ireland again. Life was too exciting in New York, and if I wanted a blast of home I could just head up the Turnpike to the Catskills, or failing that, ride the subway to Bainbridge Avenue.

Bainbridge is long gone now. The last time I was there filming a documentary about Black 47, I couldn’t even identify the buildings that used to house Sarsfields or The Phoenix – at least the Village Pub was hard to miss with John Flynn’s benign presence hovering over it.

I worry about the Catskills. I hear rumors of resorts closings. I know there’ll always be an Irish presence around East Durham, but with a few exceptions it’s getting harder for the old resorts now that Irish immigration has been choked off.

What’s going on, Democrats and Republicans? Right now, you’re scouring the country for our votes. Instead of the usual patronizing and platitudes, why don’t you get together and create a new immigration law that would guarantee 20,000 Irish green cards every year?

It’s not asking much, after our contributions to the life of this country. New blood is needed in the Irish community. New ideas too!

The Catskills will always be magical. But they could use a shot of 21^st Century Ireland. The mountains will return the favor double-fold, just like they did to me back in a perfect summer in the 1970’s.