Slaughter of the innocents

Each workday, I follow winding, tree-lined Brock Road past scattered houses and an elementary school on my way to and from work. It's a nice drive in a car, a fun one on a motorcycle. Deer occasionally cross my path, so it's wise to stay alert on the entire 10-mile stretch.

Brock Road Elementary School is one of the landmarks along the semi-rural route. In the morning, I'm always passing it while children are arriving, so there are many cars pulling in and out of the parking lot, and a 25 mph speed limit in force. Oftentimes on my ride, I'll come upon a school bus stopping to pick up small children, seemingly smaller than their backpacks, at some of the driveways that abut the road.

On my way home, the school is nearly deserted, though I've used its covered front entrance as shelter during bad storms while on my bike. More than once, I've sat on the bench outside the main entrance as thunder and lightning played out just yards away. More than once, the principal or other school staff have invited me to come inside and out of the weather, but I've always declined, content to sit under the roof line until the storm eased. Such has been my interaction with that school, and those were honestly my only thoughts of it.

Until last Friday. The ferocious, barbaric attack on innocent children, teachers, and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, changed all that. I can't imagine passing Brock Road Elementary on my commute without thinking about that carnage. I can't imagine watching those small children climb onto the buses without seeing the faces of those killed by yet another madman with yet another cache of high-capacity, high-caliber weapons.

We can and we should talk about banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We can and we should talk about keeping weapons of mass murder out of the hands of those with mental issues. We can and we should tighten background checks that are inconsistently enforced on those buying guns at gun shows or from individuals.

But we have to do more. We have to look at the kind of culture we have become. Make no mistake, I believe in both the first and second amendments. However, just as I believe the second amendment doesn't mean we should all have access to AR-15s, I think we need to think twice before exposing our children to the most vile and violent video games, movies, and other media.

When I was going to high school in a 1970s-era semi-rural suburb of Chicago, some of my classmates would come to school with a rifle or shotgun hanging on the rack in their pickup truck. There was never a thought that would be a problem. They were coming to school after going hunting in the early morning before school, or they were going hunting after school. The idea that one of them would ever use a weapon against a schoolmate or teacher was as alien as imagining one of us was the king of France.

What has changed? Murder and mayhem are now seen as the basis for numerous video games aimed at children. It's hard to get through a television program without seeing commercials for shoot-'em-up war games.

Lethal violence is perfectly acceptable in PG-13 movies, but if a breast appears on the screen, that brings an R rating. Suggestions of sex are restricted for those under 17, but slash-and-gash horror is considered good fun for tweens and younger.

Maybe I'm becoming an old coot, but things really have changed since I was a kid. Sure, there were scary movies, but the violence was suggested and almost never actually shown. We would get scared, but we wouldn't get desensitized. We didn't get used to seeing dead bodies as just another element in a game.

When I first saw "Saving Private Ryan," the graphic violence of the D-Day landings -- a plot element necessary to understand the horror of war -- brought tears to my eyes and I found it hard not to weep openly. By contrast, this type of violence is the raison d'etre of too many games, movies, and television shows.

So, what to do? I have no quick or easy answers. I truly hope those in power, and even more importantly, those of us who put those people in power, will rally to find some rational and responsible actions and then take them.

As for me, I will write letters, I will communicate with my representatives in Congress and beyond, and I will appreciate just a little more every child I see climbing aboard a school bus on my commute. I don't have children of my own, but I hope those of you who do will give them a hug and a kiss every day. They are your blessing and our country's hope.

Even more thanks

74 degrees Fahrenheit.

On December 3.

My day off.

Do I really need to say anything else?

Downtown Culpeper, Virginia, Monday, December 3, 2012. Amazing.

It was another wonderful day of riding in the Virginia Piedmont, with a stop at the Barbecue Exchange in Gordonsville, Virginia, for lunch. I felt like I had moved to South Carolina, only without the crazy politicians.

Giving thanks

Ah, Thanksgiving. Time to enjoy good food, friends, and family and reflect on our good fortune. So, herewith, a few thoughts.

I'm thankful for days as nice as this one, with clear skies and temperatures near 60F. Today, I rode some of my favorite roads through the rolling hills and valleys of the Virginia Piedmont, took some pictures of Old Rag Mountain -- I still find it hard to believe I've actually climbed it -- and just enjoyed the afternoon.

Old Rag, regarded as the toughest climb in Virginia, looms over farm fields in Madison County.

I'm thankful for the re-election of a president who has a brain, believes in science and fairness, and works harder than some in recent memory. None of us, including me, agrees with President Obama all the time on everything, but he may well be the best president of my lifetime, and I've been around for a while. Long enough to remember John Kennedy, whose death we remember today.

President John Kennedy

Such promise, so many possibilities for true greatness, cut down way too early in life. Thinking of his presidency, I'm thankful he had the courage to handle the Cuban missile crisis thoughtfully and bring it to a close without starting a war with the Soviet Union. Some hotheads on the scene today -- John McCain, I'm talking to you -- could well have ended civilization as we knew it had they been in power.

I'm thankful to have a decent job, health insurance, and no real worries about my living situation. I know how lucky I am. I'm not rich, but I can put food on the table, cover my mortgage, and pay my bills. There are plenty of people who cannot say the same.

I'm thankful for those who serve our country, in uniform and behind the scenes. I'm fortunate to know many such individuals, and they are the best of the best.

I'm thankful the Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III, if only to see him lead the team to victory against the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving :-) Honestly, RG III is amazing to watch, and incredible when you consider he's a rookie.

Robert Griffin III celebrates with the crowd after a touchdown.

I'm thankful for all who fight for historic preservation. Living where I do, amid Civil War battlefields and homes that date to our colonial predecessors, it's hard for me to imagine not appreciating history, but my conversations with other people bear witness to the fact that not all realize the debt we owe our ancestors.

I'm thankful for writers of history, like Robert Caro, whose four volume (so far) biography is my current read. The depth of research and thus transmitted information in these books is extraordinary. I'm on the third volume right now, and I'm learning more about American politics of the twentieth century than I could have imagined.

I'm thankful for more than I could possibly relate here. I hope you have too many blessings in your life to list them all, too. Did I mention beating Dallas?

Miles of smiles

Some days are just made for riding; today was one of those days.

On a clear day with incredible blue skies, I took a few hours to wander the countryside on my BMW R 1150 GS. My primary goal was to document a mileage mark -- hitting 170,000 miles on the odometer. Four miles from my house, I stopped to record the moment (right).

I've never ridden one motorcycle that many miles before. In fact, the most I've ever put on one bike was about 67,000 on a K 75 RT years ago, so every day is a new record for me. My eventual goal is to eclipse my vehicle record, 187K and change on a 1991 VW GTI, then head for 200K.

With that duty out of the way, I headed west to spend a couple of hours in the saddle. Riding through the town of Orange, I decided to go ahead and cast my vote for the November elections. Early voting started in Virginia last week, and I may be out of the area on election day, so I dropped in at the registrar's office and recorded my vote.

From Orange, I continued southwest on Virginia Rt. 20, a beautiful route through the Virginia Piedmont, and made a brief stop to note the location of The Wreck at the Fat Nancy, a state landmark.

The Fat Nancy was a railroad trestle spanning the area shown at right. Fat Nancy was a name given to an African-American woman who lived nearby and kept watch for problems at the trestle site. As the Piedmont Airline, Virginia Midland Railroad's Train 52, crossed the 44-foot-high, 487-foot-long trestle on July 12, 1888, the bridge collapsed, killing nine and injuring another two dozen passengers. Among the survivors was former Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet.

A little farther south on Rt. 20 lies Montpelier, the home of Virginia native and American President James Madison. The road is called the Constitution Route in honor of Madison's key role in creating the document that governs our nation.

Montpelier is also the site of an original freedman's cabin, a home built and lived in by former slaves of the Montpelier plantation.

George Gilmore built the cabin in 1873 from remains of a Confederate camp nearby. His story is an inspiring one, and you can read the details here.

Also in the area is Montpelier Station, a railroad depot and post office that has been restored as a fully-functioning post office and museum on the days of segregation.

The exterior of the building is beautifully preserved, and the post office occupies the far end of the building as seen in this picture.

The near end includes separate "white" and "colored" entrances and waiting rooms, as was the norm before the end of racial segregation in the 1960s.

Inside the waiting rooms are exhibits explaining the sordid past of our American apartheid. For those not alive during that time, it must be a real eye-opener.

I remember the department store we frequented when I was a child in Alexandria, Virginia, having separate drinking fountains, but I don't recall seeing the level of apartheid preserved here, other than on TV news.


Though I lived in the South, I was still sheltered from the worst of life as a black American.

Across the highway is another nicely preserved building, this one an Esso gas station. For those too young to remember, Esso was the previous name of Exxon, and was created by using the initials of the original company, Standard Oil -- S.O. becomes Esso. If you're riding in the area, you almost have to stop for a photo.

After roaming the countryside for a bit, I found my way to Madison, Virginia, named for -- of course -- the former president.

One of the attractions of that small town is the Pig 'n' Steak restaurant, a well-known purveyor of BBQ and other tasty meats.

Today, I chose a pork BBQ platter with macaroni salad and cole slaw, accompanied by the only beverage allowed to be consumed with BBQ in Virginia -- sweet tea. I'm joking, but it almost should be the law; it's certainly the overwhelming practice.

Combine that meal with a good book (currently Means of Ascent, the second volume in Robert Caro's biographical series on Lyndon Johnson), and you have a recipe for a nice, relaxing lunch in a cozy setting. Just be careful about the sauces on the table. A couple of them are pretty hot!


After lunch, I headed out on Rt. 231, one of the finest country roads anywhere. Known locally as the Old Blue Ridge Turnpike, it's a Virginia Scenic Byway and well worth a trip just to experience it.

After spending Sunday doing yard work, it was great to spend some time in the saddle on a perfect fall afternoon. The crisp air and scattered leaves in the roadway are proof the season is changing, and we're entering prime time for real motorcyclists. Maybe that's why I'm smiling so much tonight...

Lyin' Ryan

Well, there he goes again.

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has been caught in yet another lie, this one acutely personal. Ryan, a fitness buff, had previously claimed his best time in the marathon was around 2 hours and 50 minutes, a very good time for even elite athletes. A little too good for Paul Ryan, as it turns out.

Runner's World magazine did a little poking around, and discovered that Ryan's best time was actually 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds. Oopsie.

As a former athlete -- bicycling, tennis, and volleyball -- I can tell you nobody who cares about competition would make a mistake like that about a world class marathon time. I can also tell you only the worst of athletes lie about their supposed accomplishments.

If this was the only time Paul Ryan confused fantasy and reality, it could be dismissed as merely a braggart boosting his own self-inflated ego. But this falls into a familiar pattern for Ryan. For years, he's been lying about his own positions and those of his political opponents, and this year's election campaign has only served to highlight his mendacity.

For example:

Medicare
Ryan and the Republicans claim President Obama "steals" $716 billion from Medicare recipients. In reality, President Obama's plan for Medicare saves over $700 billion in wasteful payments to hospitals and other providers over the next ten years, but does not reduce care for patients at all. And Ryan's own plan for Medicare starts with the same $700+ billion savings, then cuts more from actual programs, like prescription "donut hole" costs.

Welfare
Ryan and the Republicans claim President Obama is "gutting" the workfare system, an outright lie that has been rebuked by literally every independent arbiter in the business.

Jobs
Ryan spoke movingly about a GM plant in his native Janesville, Wisconsin, being closed despite promises by candidate Obama to keep it open. Couple of problems with that -- Obama gave a speech there in March of 2008 and GM announced in June 2008 it was closing the plant. Obama wasn't even president when GM announced the plant closure!

Speaking of GM
Ryan and ticket-leader Mitt Romney don't seem to mention the auto industry turnaround very often. Perhaps it's because President Obama oversaw the successful salvation of the American auto industry and saved millions of jobs rather than letting the companies go bankrupt, as Romney very publicly advised.

Simpson-Bowles
Much has been said by Paul Ryan about the Simpson-Bowles Commission and its suggestions for ending the deficit impasse in Washington, to wit:

"He [President Obama] created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing."

Ryan leaves out the part about him being on the commission, about him voting against the report, and about him leading the House opposition to its conclusions. Perhaps if Ryan had been more interested in helping the country than his narrow political interests, we might have made more progress on our economic situation.

The Republicans are now pushing the question, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" They figure this is their key to winning the election, and they'll do everything they can to convince American voters we're on the road to disaster.

You won't hear the Republicans pointing out that President Obama staunched the bleeding of jobs lost under Republican George W. Bush. When Obama took office, we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs per month. In January 2009, the last month under Bush, we lost more manufacturing jobs than any month since October 1982! Under President Obama, America has added more than 4,000,000 jobs. That's not enough, but it's a beginning of a turnaround from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) has added 30 million or so Americans to the ranks of those covered by health insurance. As time passes, it will help bring down costs while increasing coverage.

Democrats are usually criticized for being soft on national defense, but under President Obama, the leadership of Al Qaeda has been decimated, including the death of Osama bin Laden, public enemy #1. Obama has ended the war in Iraq, and is working to bring home our troops in Afghanistan,. For the record, neither conflict was deemed worth mentioning during Romney's nomination acceptance speech.

America is demonstrably better off now than under George Bush. We're not where we want to be, but we're on the way. We'd be further along if Republicans had not vowed in the first days of President Obama's presidency to oppose everything he attempted, solely to deny him any chance at a second term. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted that on national TV.

At least he wasn't lying...