I’ve been reading on Kindle a lot. Pretty much non-stop and without much discrimination. Trying to keep my brain from shriveling up

I just finished reading John Bolton’s book, mostly out of curiosity. I wouldn’t suggest reading it. No one’s views will be changed by it. Trump’s “base” is not erudite enough to get it or even to get through it. A lot of it was tedious and soporific. I am moderately erudite. I got through it but I didn’t really learn anything new.

Actually, maybe this was driven home to me. Bolton wrote that every decision Trump has made since his election was based on his getting re-elected. So, given that, what do you think his focus might be during a second term when there’ll be no chance of re-election?

John Bolton is very intelligent, very articulate, and very conservative. He’s a character. He loves being a character. I don’t like him. I don’t watch cable news, but, back in the day when I did, I did not frequent Fox. Apparently, Bolton was a regular commentator there and was highly thought of. Maybe that’s how Trump knew about him. I don’t think he has friends in any camp now.

Actually, I am embarrassed at myself for some of what I have been reading but proud of myself for reading.

Think this afternoon I’ll download a Grisham.

“Tulsa race massacre. Part of the Nadir of American race relations

Homes and businesses burned in Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma,

Date May 31 – June 1, 1921TargetBlack residents, their homes and businessesWeaponsGuns, explosives, incendiary devices, some dropped from airplanes

Deaths
150–200 black and 50 white Injured 800+183 serious injuries
exact number unknownPerpetratorsWhite American mob and the United States National Guard“

There were no convictions for any of the charges related to violence. There were decades of silence about the terror, violence, and losses of this event. The riot was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories: “The Tulsa race riot of 1921 was rarely mentioned in history books, classrooms or even in private. Blacks and whites alike grew into middle age unaware of what had taken place.”

I was one of those who never knew. I was born in Oklahoma in 1943 and lived there until I was fifteen. I don’t think my parents knew either. Recently, this episode was finally included in textbooks. Finally, I learned about it.

And tomorrow, POTUS is going to hold an indoor campaign rally in Tulsa in the middle of an increase of COVID cases there. Already there are people lined up outside the BOK (Bank of Oklahoma, 20,000 seats) arena hoping to get inside.

I can see that the weather in Tulsa tomorrow is predicted to be typical mid-June weather: 85º, humid, thunderstorms.

I remember Oklahoma thunderstorms. They often turned into tornadoes. Neighbors had storm cellars out in their backyards.

These lined-up folks don’t seem to be worried about weather or COVID. One person in the queue said to a reporter that “God will protect his people.”

Will God intervene and make sure no one will be struck by lightning or contract the virus in the crowded arena?

Which, exactly, are “his people”?

All, I’m pretty sure.

The ones who have been sick and dying from Covid these past months. George Floyd. . And, yes, Donald J. Trump.

Whatever deity you claim, I feel certain that deity does not play favorites and is not in the business of “liking”some people more than others.

Nevertheless, if you pray, tomorrow might be a good day to do it. For so many things.

This is definitely a minor feast day, but this year in particular I am thinking about banners and symbols.

What do the names of military bases stand for? What does it stand for when the President of the United States waves a borrowed Bible in his hand? What does it mean when I fly an American flag on my front porch.

It is important to note that I quit doing that for a while in case someone might infer that I was a Republican. But I’ve reclaimed it and it’s out there today.

I have a collection of flags that I rotate out there: my tribal flag, an Oregon flag, a flag of the state of my origin, a rainbow PACE flag that I bought in Italy, a big blue marble flag.

There is a circle of state flags (currently under renovation) on one of the many lawns at the Oregon Capitol.

A few years ago, the flag of Mississippi there was taken down because someone happened to notice that the canton was a Confederate flag, which is, in fact, the flag of another country. A very brief country. Every time I see that flag displayed, I cringe. However, in this case, I would have left it up. It was a powerful statement. I understand that there is a movement in Mississippi to change it. Others there say it symbolizes their state’s history.

Well, yeah. And this flag symbolizes a period of history in another country too. Symbols are very powerful. Whenever I see it on someone’s pickup truck or being held aloft by someone in fatigues with a semi-automatic over his shoulder, I am nauseated and terrified.

Nobody ever thinks about it, but we have another state flag that has the flag of a foreign country in its canton too. No one thought about taking it down.

That’s the Hawaii state flag and that’s the Union Jack, flag of the UK, in the canton. “They” say it symbolizes the historical “friendship” between the British and the Islands. I’m not offended by it, but I’m not buying it. It’s true, the US has a great ally in the UK, but no one thinks highly of British Imperialism these days. I don’t know Hawaiian history well enough to weigh the good the Brits did against the bad. I do know it was the white sailors who brought diseases and non-native pests to the islands. I believe the English referred to themselves as a “protectorate” of the Sandwich Islands.

Well, it’s Flag Day. Three cheers for the red, white, and blue.

These are confusing times. By today’s enlightened standards, two hundred years ago, pretty much everyone was racist, misogynistic, and patriarchal. Should we judge them by standards that did not exist for them? I agree that many Confederate monuments must be taken down. Moreover, it has recently come to our attention that some of our country’s founders were slave holders. Should we change the name of every place named “Washington” or “Jefferson”? If so, how should we proceed?

Today POTUS tweeted: “These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of victory, winning, and freedom.” Confederate generals are not part of victory, winning, and freedom. The Civil War, like the Holocaust is never to be forgotten, but not to be honored or glorified.