I have been absent for several weeks, some of you know why; for those who don't, here it is. My wife of 46 years had a lung transplant on July 24, 2023. The month leading up to the transplant was filled day in and day out, with doctor appointment, lab runs, etc.,etc., ad nauseum. We received the call on July 22nd that they had a "clean" donor (matched all the criteria and had no issues of concern), so we rushed to University of Utah hospital and 2 days later, bingo! a new lung is in and working. Kathleen has been in the hospital since then, and in ICU for now 30 days. There are some issues with chyle leakage (from the lymphatic system) that have created a stumbling block, but the doctors are throwing all modern medicine has to offer and then some more, to solve the problem. It is my belief they are doing everything and then some more to get Kathleen well enough to come home, without the need of O2 tanks, concentrators, and compressors for her to live. If you want to know more, go here: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22301/ for almost daily updates, you can subscribe to the page and you will get an email when I post an update. Oh, yes, you can also post the page to your social media and make donations to help with the bills and medicines not covered by the insurance company.
But back to the reason for today's post. Given that I have had many hours in hospital rooms while she slept, or in waiting rooms while she underwent surgery or follow up "procedures", I spent time looking at the American political issues facing us today. I have some observations, which I am glad to share with you.
The 2020 election is over, The President of the United States of America is Joe Biden, the election was not stolen. Get over it.
The Biden administration is not going to issue sudden, mandatory emergency masking requirements this fall. And the so-called Senator from Utah, you know, the low life impersonating a human being, Mike "short sale, short thought process" Lee should be ashamed of himself for promoting this garbage on his X account. In fact, he should just be ashamed of himself period.
Now to the one statement I heard over and over in my research: Real Americans. Wow, who are they, what do they think, and who gets to decide who is a Real American and who isn't (you know, the bad guys).
I know about 500 people in my short list, so I thought hard about each and every one of them. To a person, they are all American citizens, by birth or naturalization.
Some of them drive great big oversized diesel guzzling pickup trucks (oh, wait, that's me!), one drives a Chevrolet Bolt (total electric) and there are some Tesla's in there. And Toyota's, Fords, Hondas, Hyundai's, you get the picture.
My list includes a school bus driver, a retired teacher, an Army vet that survived Chosin Reservoir in Korea, and countless Viet-war vets. It includes cashiers at the grocery store, unions workers at UPS, freight truck drivers, fast-food employees, even an insurance agent (family joke there), bankers, farmers, cattlemen, and salespeople of one type or another.
Given that America has, thankfully, welcomed peoples from many other countries over the years, I cannot begin to count the number of different nationalities (backgrounds) that I know.
Some fly American flags on their pickups, wear MAGA hats, and vote Republican. Some are liberal Obama/Biden loving tree-hugging environmentalists concerned about global warming.
I have, as you probably do, friends that are straight, gay, bi, questioning, on and on.
In other words, my short list is a lot like yours. All of us know someone that thinks different than we do, that has a diverse world-view and a disparate political opinion.
Yet, here's my bottom line. We are all "Real Americans." Each and every one of us has a claim to that title, and it cannot be taken away from us.
So let's stop dividing America and Unite her. We are, after all,
The United States Of America.
The United States Of America
Thank you for reading, as always, pass this page on to your friends and anyone who likes an individual thought.
R. M. "Bob" Hartman
Comments are always welcome, see the white box below.