Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”
—-Simon and Garfunkel
In 1941, Joe DiMaggio got a hit in 56 strait games. Our country was in the midst of the Second World War, Pearl Harbor was attacked, and Hitler was ravaging Europe, but “Joltin' Joe” didn’t give up for a minute. If you had any interest in baseball at all, DiMaggio was your hero, and this country desperately needed a hero at that time.
During the early sixties Americans found their hero in a good looking young Catholic man who won a hard-fought election and became President of the United States. John F. Kennedy and his brother, Bobby, captured the hearts of those looking to ensure that all people in our country were treated equally. The assassinations of these brothers, along with that of Martin Luther King Jr., brought a feeling of hopelessness over our country, but America has a way of bouncing back. On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law.
This act outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Although it seems like that would be a no-brainer to me, the passage of this act caused much dissension in parts of our country, and changed demographic support in both parties. The South saw five states swing republican, and in years to come the South became the stronghold of the Republican Party.
Ever in search of a hero, many in our country believed that they found one in an actor from Hollywood, Ronald Reagan. While the sixties was a time when liberals seemed to be pushing their agenda, the eighties brought a new fervor towards conservatism, and Ronald Reagan was a staunch conservative. He advocated reductions in taxes and government spending, and our country became more conservative as the political pendulum continued to swing.
As the liberal and conservative agenda moved further and further apart through the years, one man’s hero became another man’s nightmare, and our country began to polarize. The panic that parts of our nation felt when Barack Obama was elected as our first black President was very real, and while there is no doubt that he held hero status in the eyes of much of the liberal community, there was a palpable fear in much of the conservative strongholds that life as they knew it would change forever.
We watched many changes take place during Obama’s two terms, and heard many conservative pundits bemoan the destruction of their way of life. As the ever moving pendulum stretched itself in one direction, I had no doubt that we would see a major shift take place. Anyone who follows history realized that things never stay on one side forever, and if you wait long enough your politics will come into vogue.
So while Donald Trump is far from my hero, he does fill that bill for quite a few people in our country. I wish that more people would think like I do (don’t we all), but I also realize that two strongly opposed viewpoints often help to balance the teeter-totter that is American politics. So rather than linger in panic mode when I watch many of my values being challenged, I will take a deep breathe and have faith that our democracy, flawed as it might be, will “keep on keepin' on,” and I will soon find another “Joe DiMaggio” in a country that thankfully raises many heroes for us all.
This week’s book was not my favorite. I decided to review it anyway, because it was my first (and last) foray into erotica, and I promised I would try, so here goes... I never got on the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon, and when, His for a Week: Bought by Em Brown was recommended to me I agreed to read it. I just couldn’t get past the women’s acceptance of being demeaned in the hopes of finding “true love.” Not for me, but these books certainly have an audience, and if you are a fan, this is reasonably well written and offers a bit of romance.
As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly