Letters from the Left Coast

I recently had a long, heated yet civil conversation with my father regarding politics (first mistake), right versus left and the general state of the union. I live here in Southern California the land of sunshine and fairly consistent warm weather. He lives in Chicago where I was born and raised and am proud of that fact. Chicago being in the Midwest and not the East coast as so many to my surprise seem to think, is plagued by two types of weather cycles, extremely hot and humid and extremely cold and gloomy. The reason I mention this is because I have reason to believe weather is directly related to political beliefs. Warm weather and sunshine tend to give people a brighter outlook on politics whereas extreme weather causes one to, well, become extreme.

The discussion was the age old new thinking versus old school thinking on the direction the country is taking and the open in which we recently survived through. Now my old man is in no way a slouch when it comes to politics and knows how to hold his own. Not to mention he has real life credentials and personal experience on the political front line that validate his points, thinking and political beliefs. Unlike many that like to argue politics my old man knows his stuff and has been in the political trenches. That in mind I knew I had my work cut out for me.

I myself having grown up to some degree around politics I learned from the best. My family was politically involved and always believed in the process. Anyone who knows anything about Chicago knows that it is many things both good and bad like any great American city, but if it is anything it is political first and foremost. I don't know of any other city that can tout a family dynasty of mayors, a red phone from our city hall or the 'fifth floor' as those in the know refer to it as that was directly linked to the Kennedy White House or political lineage we have in Chicago, Cook County and the collar counties of DuPage, Will, Lake and Kane to name a few. As different as these counties may be in party affiliation and beliefs the common denominator is they know at the end of the day it is all about one thing, bringing it all home to your constituents. Votes mean jobs and vice versa. Period. From time to time the race or color or creed may change but the meat and potatoes of the 'democratic machine' does not. In Chicago we have a saying, all politics is local. There is Chicago and the state of Illinois and then the rest of the world. As much as many around the country may think that 'machine' politics is not quite kosher let me assure you, it works, even in spite of people having made the phrase 'democratic machine' a bad ones only to be whispered in dark corners. I think there has always been a little jealousy from the rest of the country with regard to Illinois politics and the fact that we make it work and always keep jobs on the table in Illinois and Chicago. Face it some of you just don't have what it takes to make it work effectively. For those who harbor that ill will and jealousy, get real, politics is a business and a dirty one at that. No different than any other rough and tumble business and definitely not for the squeamish or johnny do gooder. And yes it is often a self serving business.

Having grown up in it I did what any smart political kid would do, got involved. I works the campiagns and stumped my share of polling places, knocked on my share of doors and glad handed my share of potential voters. Like my old man I rose through the ranks to become a city job holder, state job holder and eventually a practicing democratic machine politico operative for several years. I was fortunate to witness to underbelly of the machine and participate in the inner workings of it all. I have sat with men of power and the decision makers, Mayors, Senators, Congressmen and Aldermen and even at dinner with a President. I was fortunate I say because you learn valuable lessons about people and life you can never learn in any school and those things have served me well in every area of my life since. The only reason I ever got out of it was my other passions became more important and to be a political animal it must be your life if you are to survive in the trenches. That and I just did not envision myself an overweight, gravelly voiced, cigar chomping, suspender wearing ward boss. No, I had other ideas in mind. These things I believe qualify me in the political realm, maybe not an expert but at least a very knowledgeable insider.

Back to my old man and our heated conversation. I guess the direction I have seen our country go in the previous eight years made me think enough to feel we needed something different and needed to go on a different direction. That was the gist of our discussion. He disagreed with the way the Democrats and Obama in particular was running the show, even after only less than one hundred days in office. I argued that the Bush/Cheney way hasn't worked in eight years how long before we realize and admit that. How much grief and war and lies do we as a country have to endure before we get tired of it. You can only fight with people so long and keep a hardnosed attitude before a bigger kid punches you in the nose and it hurts real bad and maybe even bleeds. The subject alone gets my blood boiling but I will be prudent and save that for another time. Let me just say that if you have half a brain, after that punch in the nose you definitely defend yourself then maybe try to look at things differently and at least consider options and alternative ways of confronting that kid. Some would call me un-American or unpatriotic for saying these things. Those are the same people that have obviously forgotten what democracy means. Anyone who has the audacity to call another American un-American just because they believe differently should check themselves. I once heard 'the most dangerous man in the world is the man that will do anything he must to get you to believe what he believes'. There are way too many of them running around this country, thankfully we recently got rid of a whole room full of them the American way by voting them out. There's plenty more out there so the job is nowhere near done yet. I can say I pretty much care less what those types feel about me anyway.

In many ways I understood where my old man was coming from and why he believed how and what he believed. He came from another era. An era that did many great things for our country but one I also personally believed greatly contributed to us getting into the mess and state of unwell being our country is currently in. Sadly I also believed that he harbored that fear I too grew up with, the fear of a man of color in the White House. True to Chicago tradition this has always been one and one I am not proud of, segregation. My father is not a bigot, racist or any of those things. He is more a victim of a belief system that so many are victim of and one that keeps us segregated and fearful of anything different than us. In the old days the belief was seperate was good. You do your thing I do mine. Stay in your neighborhood I'll stay in mine. It existed in every race, religion, neighborhood and area of the country. In the age or travel and technology we simply cannot live that way anymore.

He chalked it up to my living on the west coast having changed me and my beliefs. To the contrary, it has only reinforced the beliefs I held when growing up and working in politics. He likes to call it the left coast. The west coast is not as liberal as one might think and often not as free thinking as one might imagine. Take the political landscape for instance it is more grassroots and independent, which to me translates into nothing getting done and no communication between organizations. It starts at the top and trickles down and by time it gets to the local level it's every man for himself. In a real political organization like the 'democratic machine' everyone has a job, is a link in the chain and an oweness to the next guy and things get done when you know it will directly affect you and yours. Maybe it's also time to put my experience where my mouth is and get back involved in the political arena out here in Southern California.

Eventually we both laid out what we believe and what we thought the future direction of our country should be. To continue on a course of isolation, fear, hardnosed tactics and war is not the direction to go in. Maybe shaking a few hands, taking a few bows and saying please, thank you and I'm sorry once in a while just might help us out a little. What's the old saying? You get more bees with honey than vinegar. We agreed to disagree. I have the ultimate respect for my old man he has seen a lot and knows a lot. He is whom I get much of who I am today from. I am proud of that.