Three is a Magic Number by Steven Uhles: So shall we gather
Groucho Marx once said that he would never join a club willing to accept him as a member. I think I know how he feels. I have never been much of a joiner and do not feel that primal urge to be a part of something larger than myself. I enjoy sports but have never counted myself as a fervent fan. I believe in exercising my right to vote, and do so consistently, but refuse to attach any of the available labels – Right or Left, Republican or Democrat – to my private political philosophies. I have visited many houses of worship but never felt the drive to join, received professional association invitations that I summarily dismiss and eschew the idea of carrying any sort of membership card in my already overstuffed wallet. I am neither lonely nor a loner, but I am also not officially part of anything outside my family.
Still, I do find fascination in those that do gather and group, following one another under a single flag. Whether those seven samurai or the boys in the band, I love to observe the dynamic – if from a respectful distance.
With that in mind, I ask you to turn your attention to this week’s Magic Three – a trio of stories ripped (or softly pried) from current headlines, bylines, and media musings.
Dad rock voting block
First, a mea culpa. I did not have Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz in the pool. I was betting on Mark Kelly. He was an astronaut that I felt sure would bring all those NASA fans to the yard. But, as it turns out, Walz brings another block of voters, often seen and little heard, to American politics. Walz, it seems, will dad rock you like a hurricane.
A recent piece in “Esquire” focused not on Walz’s politics, history as an educator or the status of his military service, but what one might find in his record collection. According to sources, his tastes run toward left-of-center classic rock – Warren Zevon for example – and those acts that made his home state of Minnesota famous. Former United States Representative Beto O’Rourke talked about his love of Prince, Husker Du, and the Replacements. That, to me, conjures a very specific sort of middle-aged male voter – hair more salt than pepper, the omnipresent band shirt clearly well-worn and a rack of records prominently displayed in his suburban rumpus room. I am not saying every fading hipster is jumping on the Walz train, but I am saying this is a previously underserved demographic that might see some campaign trail love. If Walz does not use the Replacements’ epic “Unsatisfied’ as his walk-up music, it is a missed opportunity the guy with a Yo La Tengo sticker on his Subaru may not forgive.
It takes a paleolithic village
Here is a hot take. Stonehenge is not particularly spectacular. Sure, it is mysterious and mythic, but when you roll past on the highway – sorry, motorway – it seems, well, small. So, imagine my surprise this week when I learned the Altar Stone, the largest of Stonehenge’s rough-hewn pillars, weighs more than six tons. What is more, scientists have recently applied some science to the famous rock and discovered its hometown is somewhere in Scotland, about 450 miles by land and almost 650 by sea. That is a challenging move at any point in history, but particularly interesting as estimates have this trek happening about 4500 years ago.
I’m no expert on ancient Brits, but I’m pretty certain they didn’t throw a couple of oxen at that bad boy and drag it down to the Salisbury Plain. It was the work of a team, undoubtedly large and most certainly focused. What is sad is, once they had the stone up and aligned, they probably thought their fame would last forever. Instead, their names were lost in time.
Feel free to join but not join in
There’s something that happens when people join together as groups that I’ve always found distressing, particularly when there is another group in opposition – the trash talk. Certainly, the most prominent current example of this is the political mudslinging we are all exposed to. Republicans are all fascists, bullies, and/or racists. Democrats are all insane socialists that hate babies. Neither is an accurate representation, but both are popular conversational gambits. I have no problem with political discussion or debate. In fact, I encourage it. What I disagree with is the employment of insults. Differing management styles – and that is what we are talking about here – do not necessitate distasteful personal remarks. And here is a secret, that sort of aggressive approach has never, ever changed opinion. Talk about the platforms, theories and issues all day, but perhaps without calling those that disagree an idiot.
If I had but one thing I could put on my election season wish list, it would be a sense of civility.
I’m not holding my breath.