Reflections on 9/11: What Have We Learned?

“Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.” — Megan Devine

I delivered this reflection at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship service on September 10. The proximity of the service to 9/11 called for a commemoration of the tragedy and its continuing echoes. Collecting my thoughts from over two decades was an instructive exercise, an example of William Faulkner’s quip, “I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it.”

§

T

omorrow will be the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, the audacious and traumatic attack on America by al-Qaeda. We’re approaching a generation since that day. While the physical destruction has been cleared, new buildings constructed, the Pentagon repaired, and memorials erected, the emotional scars remain. In the words of Megan Devine, “Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.”

The echoes of 9/11 persist. This morning I want to share my reflections on a few of the many.

John Ogonowski and his family — wife Margaret and daughters Laura, Caroline, and Mary Catherine — lived on a 150 acre farm in Dracut, Massachusetts, not far from where John was raised. Beyond raising crops — hay, corn, pumpkins, blueberries, and peaches — he was known for promoting farming in Massachusetts and helping Cambodian farmers who had settled in the area after the Vietnam War.

9/11 dawned a crisp fall morning, with not a cloud in the sky. I recall that morning, as I lived in nearby New Hampshire. John Ogonowski was up early to drive to Logan Airport. In addition to farming, he was a pilot for American Airlines, scheduled to captain a Boeing 767 from Boston to LAX. He and First Officer Thomas McGuinness were among the first to die, possibly before their plane struck the north tower.

John’s daughter, Laura, was 16, just starting her junior year in high school. She was in class that morning. A teacher led her out into the hallway and, as she recalls, said, “Laura your father was killed in a plane crash.”

“Watching the plane fly into the World Trade Center towers was, and still is, the most horrific thing to see,” she says. “That day that started out so bright and crisp turned out to be the darkest day of my life.”

The Ogonowski family turned their grief toward memorializing John’s love of farming. And trying to resume their lives. John’s widow says, “There’s just this undeniable void. They took a person bigger than life, and he disappeared in a heartbeat.”

John Ogonowski was one of the 2,977 people who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. They ranged from 2 to 82 years old and came from some 102 countries. The medical examiner staff of New York City continues to identify the remains of victims using DNA samples. As of two years ago, some 1,100 people had not been identified, their families waiting for closure.

Some 71,000 individuals who responded to the destruction at Ground Zero and were exposed to the smoke and dust and trauma, suffer physical and mental health illnesses. More than 300 fire fighters have died from illnesses attributed to their exposure in the aftermath.

Another echo from 9/11: The failures in security that allowed the 19 hijackers to pull off 9/11 led to the formation of the Homeland Security Administration and the Transportation Security Administration, dampening the fun of air travel, likely forever. Our airports have been restructured into people chutes, so TSA can assess each one of us as a possible threat.

After an intense 10-year hunt, the U.S. finally found Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and killed him in a surgical strike. While that brought some sense of justice, al-Qaeda remains active in the world. It took the U.S. another decade to find Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over the leadership after bin Laden’s death.

The U.S. government had demanded that the Taliban leadership of Afghanistan turn over bin Laden. After the Taliban refused the ultimatum, President Bush ordered an invasion of the country to capture the elusive leader. Bin Laden escaped, leaving the U.S. with a misguided and unsuccessful attempt to turn the country into a peaceful democracy. After nearly 20 years of what became known as the “forever war,” the U.S. hastily and chaotically withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in control. Other than the destruction of war, the U.S. presence in the country disappeared like an oar lifted from the water.

Yet our vengeance echoes with deaths and injuries. During the two decades, 2,462 U.S. military and 1,822 civilian contractors died. Almost 21,000 service members were wounded. The Costs of War Project estimates at least 176,000 Afghans were killed, comprising civilians, Afghan military and police, and opposition fighters.

One short-lived success of the U.S. occupation: Afghan women gained many freedoms: going to school, working, and participating in government and public life. Tragically, the Taliban quickly reimposed its patriarchal interpretation of Islamic law, leaving only memories of those freedoms.

Another echo: As the U.S. sought the perpetrators of 9/11, it established a military prison at the isolated Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. The secluded location was outside the sovereign territory of the U.S., enabling the Bush administration to argue that detainees did not have the rights and protections of the U.S. legal system. Further, the island location made it unlikely any of the prisoners could escape to threaten U.S. citizens.

The New York Times reports 780 people were detained at Guantánamo since January 2002. 30 are still there, five accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. The trial of the five has been stalled for years because each was tortured by the CIA. Torture undermines confessions and other evidence that would be presented at a trial.

Prosecutors have proposed a plea deal, where the defendants admit guilt in exchange for life sentences. The five have agreed to that point, also asking to serve their terms where they can eat and pray together, which they do now. They fear being isolated in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives. They have also asked for medical treatment for the sleep disorders, brain injuries, gastrointestinal and other health problems which they attribute to repeated torture. Last week, President Biden rejected those requests.

Three of the 30 prisoners at Guantánamo are being held in a category called “indefinite law of war detention.” They live in a Kafka-esque world where the U.S. keeps them imprisoned as a “national security necessity,” not eligible to be transferred to another country. Yet they have not been formally charged with any crimes and may never be.

Another echo: 9/11 launched a wave of anti-Muslim attacks in the U.S.: verbal and physical assaults, murders, vandalism of mosques and personal property. Donald Trump used anti-Muslim bias as a pillar of his 2016 campaign for the White House. After being elected, his proposed policies were slowed only by the courts. Islamophobia remains a simmering part of American culture, resurgent with the rise of Christian Nationalism.

§

These echoes continue to reverberate 22 years after 9/11. Sitting with them is heartbreaking. As a nation that calls itself religious, what should we learn from this past?

First, we should never forget the evil perpetrated that morning. For those of us who witnessed it, the trauma surfaces every 9/11, every time we see a photo or video from that day or its aftermath. So many innocent lives were lost, causing unfathomable pain for those who loved them. “Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.”

Second, our military forces are most effective deterring the aggression of other countries. Our military is a blunt instrument of destruction when used offensively, leading to tragic civilian casualties. An initial welcome by civilians usually turns to resentment and a guerrilla war.

Third, regardless of our intentions, an American occupation cannot create a democracy with enlightened human rights where the history, culture, and religious traditions of the country won’t nurture those seeds.

Fourth, torture and interminable detention are appalling violations of human dignity. Our first principle calls us to respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and those words reflect the values of religious people and the foundation of our Constitution.

Last, and most pertinent for us, our Muslim neighbors remain targets of bias. This is likely to become more threatening and visible with the hateful rhetoric of the upcoming presidential campaign.

22 years after 9/11, it’s easy to be so busy with life that we lose track of these continuing echoes. On this anniversary, let us remember we are called to turn our faith into action and to engage in the political process, doing what we can to right the wrongs that still echo from 9/11. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

§

As I researched and wrote this homily, I found the message depressing. Being an optimist, I want to end on a hopeful note.

Likely, you have heard the story told by Mr. Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

We can’t tell the story of 9/11 without recounting so many acts of bravery and selfless kindness. Here’s one:

That morning, the FAA ordered all aircraft in U.S. airspace to land, to determine whether other planes had been hijacked and were heading for destruction at unknown locations. There were many flights coming from Europe that were too close to the U.S. to return to Europe. 38 planes carrying some 6,600 passengers and crew landed at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, which had a very long runway but a population of just 9,000. The residents there rallied to feed and house their stranded visitors until their flights were cleared to return to the U.S.

Victoria’s song this morning, from the musical “Come From Away,” shares the story of Beverly Bass. She was an American Airlines captain flying from Paris to Dallas-Fort Worth that day. “Come From Away” tells of the goodness and generosity of the Canadian community that responded to the tragedy.

With the vision of peace for a hurting world, let’s join our voices to sing our closing hymn, “Imagine” by John Lennon.

Alabama's Republican Legislators: Obtuse, Recalcitrant, Afraid?

Alabama's legislature recently concluded a special session to redraw Alabama's congressional districts mandated by the federal courts — including a 5–4 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a state where 27 percent of the residents are Black, the federal government argued — and the argument was supported by the courts — that more than one of the seven congressional districts should be expected to elect a Black representative. Not so. Historically, only one district was configured to elect a Black representative, which the federal government viewed as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Agreeing with the federal government, the court ordered the legislature to create

“an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.”

Providing further guidance, the judges wrote,

"As the Legislature considers such plans, it should be mindful of the practical reality … that any remedial plan will need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it."

The legislature's solution, according to the Alabama Reflector:

GOP maps created a new 7th Congressional District in the western Black Belt with a bare majority of Black voters (it ended up at 50.65 percent) and a new 2nd Congressional District in southeast Alabama with a Black population that ranged from 38 to 42 percent.

Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, who co-chaired the reapportionment committee, said while the district wasn’t majority-Black, Black voters would have the "opportunity" to elect leaders of their choice, according to the Alabama Reflector.

Opportunity doesn't mean the outcome is likely. I can buy a lottery ticket, with the outcome most assuredly the opposite of what I hope. A population that's 38 to 42 percent hardly meets the criteria of "a voting-age majority or something quite close to it."

So it's back to court, the Alabama legislature wasting taxpayer money to defend Jim Crow.

However, my assessment may be too harsh. A thought experiment written by Brian Lyman posits the legislature may be motivated more by the fear of retribution from their hard-core voters than racial bias.

Regardless, Alabama's racial infamy lives on.

Trump Indicted, No Surprise

For the first time in U.S. history, a former president has been indicted on a criminal charge: on Tuesday, Donald Trump was officially charged with 37 counts related to keeping classified documents after his term ended, then obstructing justice by his efforts to keep the documents after ample opportunity to return them.

This first for American democracy should be stunning. Yet it’s no surprise. It’s just another dot on a very straight line drawn by the most observed, analyzed, and polarizing person in, perhaps, all of U.S. history. A human who, to me, is the antithesis of the values and norms that inspire this country — or did until Donald Trump came down the escalator to announce his presidential campaign.

What does stun me is the abject support from most leading Republicans — ironically, even those competing with Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for the 2024 election. They echo Trump’s preposterous claims of witch-hunt, judicial overreach, and persecution by the Biden administration, ignoring the photos and other compelling circumstantial evidence in the indictment. Our elected officials should let the judicial process proceed and refrain from adding political rhetoric to inflame an already historic and volatile situation.

Photo of classified documents stored in a bathroom at Mar-A-Lago. Source: Department of Justice

In addition to stunned, I’m disheartened by the values reflected by Republicans’ continued fealty to Donald Trump, despite his immorality and continuous lies, which led to his unprecedented attempt to prevent Joe Biden from assuming the presidency. Certainly a large number of Americans voted for Donald Trump. Many apparently believe his false claims of election fraud, some enough to storm the Capitol on January 6. But for the Republican leaders of our government to support Trump’s propaganda seems a clear violation of the oath of office to uphold the Constitution.

Coach Tuberville’s Latest Football

Senator Tommy “Coach” Tuberville, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has stopped the Senate’s confirmation of general and flag officer nominations and appointments, claiming the Department of Defense (DoD) policy funding travel and paid time off for service members having an abortion is illegal. So far, the Senator’s hold has caught more than 180 nominations, according to al.com.

In an op-ed article in The Washington Times, Tuberville argues

“Congress writes the laws, and Congress directs all federal spending,” saying, “Nobody in Congress voted for this.”

Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, says the DoD policy is legal. At a Senate hearing he said,

“About one in five of our troops are women. I want them focused on the mission and not worried about whether or not they’re going to have access to reproductive health care.”

The DoD policy was implemented in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case, which overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Roe said a women had the right to an abortion under the Constitution (with certain restrictions). The Dobbs ruling reversed that decision, saying no such right is explicitly defined in the Constitution. Where do you see the word abortion? The outcome of Dobbs is that legal access to abortion is determined independently by each state. Many states essentially prohibit all abortions.

The conundrum is we have troops based in all states, as well as around the globe. To prevent a two-tiered military, this DoD policy provides consistent access to reproductive health care. Unfortunately, some women will have to travel outside the states where they are based, so the policy grants them time off and reimburses travel expenses — which the Coach objects to because he is against abortion.

Another letter:

Senator Tuberville,

I write to express my disagreement with your policy of blocking military confirmations because of your opposition to the Pentagon’s medical policies, which include leave and travel for service members who have an abortion.

While I understand and respect your personal beliefs on abortion, enforcing your beliefs on all women serving in the U.S. military is an abuse of your power as a Senator and a violation of the separation of church and state, which is enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Your religious beliefs on abortion are not shared by all Americans, even Christians. A Pew Research Center survey conducted one year ago found 61% of Americans feel abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to 37% holding your view.

Memorial Day is a fitting time for you to lift your hold and let the military proceed without further unwarranted delay.

Heading Toward a Crash with the U.S. Debt Ceiling

The latest estimate by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellon forecasts the U.S. government hitting the debt ceiling — unable to incur any further debt to make payments — as early as June 1. Despite approving increases during the Trump administration, the House has tied this increase to a long list of spending cuts, reducing spending for most federal programs to the levels two years ago, according to NPR.

Disguised as concern for America's fiscal future, the House gambit is taken from classic Republican orthodoxy: cut spending except for defense and lower taxes, ignoring that the latter will actually increase the debt.

There's another dimension to this looming crisis, that of speaker Kevin McCarthy held hostage by the most conservative members of his caucus, forcing him to play a no compromise hand. Such is the price of his power.

Hard to say if rationality will prevail or we'll hit the ceiling and hope for the best. Nonetheless, it seemed prudent to reach out to my representative in the House, Mike Rogers:

Representative Rogers,

I urge you to approve an increase in the debt ceiling before the U.S. government defaults on any of its obligations. A default would be a first for the country, a self-inflicted error with unpredictable consequences for our credit rating and global financial markets.

As Jerome Powell said yesterday, “No one should assume that the Fed can protect the economy and financial system and our reputation from the damage that such an event might inflict.” A default could upend the Fed’s measured interest rate strategy to reduce inflation without incurring a recession.

As you well know, the debt ceiling simply reflects the approved spending of past sessions of Congress, Republicans as well as Democrats. Refusing to honor those debts is like me refusing to pay my credit card bill. The appropriate action for me is to reduce future charges to my credit card. The same holds for Congress.

The increasing federal debt is a longterm economic concern and should be addressed by Congress through its appropriations process. The list of spending cuts recently approved by the House is a starting point for negotiating the fiscal 2024 budget with the Senate.

The current strategy of tying a long list of wished for spending cuts to the debt ceiling in a political competition has way more downside than the outcome of reducing federal spending.

President Biden, Too Old To Run Again?

This week President Biden announced he’s running for a second four-year term, urging “let’s finish this job.”

The video announcement made official what was expected, so the news has focused on the president’s low standing in the polls and his age — born in 1942, Biden will be 86 at the end of a second term.

My take: based on his decades of experience in government, life experience, and good health, Joe Biden is the most qualified to serve as president, certainly far better than his leading and likely opponent, former president Trump.

Should ill health or death prevent Biden from completing the term, Vice President Kamala Harris will step in, with more than four years in the administration in addition to her experience in the Senate. This twist of history would be far better for the country than another four divisive years of a Trump administration.

In addition to supporting a second term for President Biden, I hope the Democrats will retain their majority in the Senate and regain the majority in the House so the administration can, indeed, finish the job. The Democrat’s vision for the country is far more inclusive and inspiring than the vision and policies I’ve heard from Republicans.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Apparently Feels Empathy is a “Woke” Concept

Hard to believe how absurd and damaging “anti-woke” politics has become.

Governor Ivey,

I am dismayed that you asked — forced according to the Alabama Reflector — the secretary of early childhood education to resign because of her support of a resource for educators, a book your communications director said included “woke concepts.”

First, the term “woke” should be banished from any government communication. It’s a pejorative, inflammatory political term that plays to your conservative base and precludes a thoughtful, reasoned discussion of any legitimate concerns about the book published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Second, the NAEYC is a respected organization, formed in 1926, that helps educators and schools create a supportive learning environment for children through age 8. NAEYC’s policies and recommended practices are based on decades of research. 25 years ago, the preschool my two children attended was accredited by NAEYC after a rigorous audit to assure the school’s program was appropriate for their stages of development.

Third, it’s so important that young children begin developing socialization skills: seeing that everyone is different, learning that each person deserves respect, and beginning to feel empathy for the other. According to the Alabama Reflector, your office received a complaint about the NAEYC book, claiming it teaches “white privilege, structural racism and messaging promoting ‘equality, dignity and worth’ around LGBTQIA+ identities.” If that was indeed the complaint, it’s a gross distortion that mirrors the bias, fear, and political agenda of the person making the complaint.

An actual passage from the book encourages teachers “to be particularly aware of providing supporting environments and responses to children who are members of marginalized groups and those who have been targets of bias and stereotyping.” Bullying based on perceived differences — gender, racial, ethnic, language, economic, academic, athletic — is a significant issue in our schools, with potential outcomes that increase in severity as children progress from preschool through high school. Telling teachers to ignore the innate diversity of our children won’t solve these issues and yield a more civil society.

Last, I’m confident all parents want their children’s teachers to see and encourage their uniqueness, helping them gain the confidence to pursue their potential. That’s the vision promoted by the NAEYC and what makes this complaint of “wokeness” — which is counter to acceptance and encouragement — so perplexing.

Perhaps you reacted to the word reflexively, not looking beyond the term to see the accusation as the unfair and fearful political play it is. Unfortunately, Alabama has lost Ms. Cooper’s talent and devotion to our children.

Former President Trump Indicted By Grand Jury For Hush Money Payment During 2016 Campaign

The lede from The New York Times story reads

"A Manhattan grand jury indicted Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges."

The specific charges aren’t yet known, just that they relate to “hush money” paid to Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an affair with Donald Trump.

The Washington Post reports Republican leaders are rallying around Trump, calling the indictment politically motivated. Mike Pence, the former vice president, said on CNN,

“I think the unprecedented indictment of a former president of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage. This will only further serve to divide our country.”

Pence is right, this will further divide the country. But it would in either case, as many would like to see Donald Trump indicted.

On his outrage, how can anyone conclude it’s an outrage if we don’t yet know the specific charges?

Are Republicans arguing a hush money payment disguised as legal fees isn’t serious enough to warrant indicting a former president? That is certainly consistent with dismissing the impropriety of Trump’s call to Ukraine’s president and his role in the attempted insurrection on January 6. If neither warranted convicting the impeached president, why prosecute a candidate for hiding a modest $130,000 payment?

Unfortunately, the Republican rationale reinforces the unfortunate reality that the application of the law seems inversely proportional to the financial wealth and stature of the defendant.

As this indictment comes from a grand jury through a district attorney — a district attorney whose career will be torpedoed for flimsy charges that a jury would quickly dismiss, there’s probably something there.

So quiet on the set. Let’s await the specifics and let the legal process play out.

The Greatest U.S. Blunder of My Lifetime: The Invasion of Iraq

T

he U.S. invasion of Iraq, predicated on Saddam Hussein secretly developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), started 20 years ago today, on March 20, 2003.

I recall landing at LAX that night, walking through the terminal and seeing images from CNN: dark skies over Baghdad lit up with tracers from anti-aircraft guns and explosions from U.S. bombs.

Colin Powell had convinced me, in his speech to the United Nations Security Council, that we had intelligence confirming WMD, which justified invading and toppling Hussein.

That proved false. But his other prediction, “If you break it you own it,” played out tragically, not ending after America’s official withdrawal in 2011. Echoes of the war will span generations, as poignantly told in this reflection by Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

In an article in The New York Times, Peter Baker assesses former President Bush’s perspective about the invasion of Iraq:

As far as he is concerned, the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, and he has told advisers he has not changed his mind about that.

Perhaps. But was it worth the carnage?

The invasion succeeded in toppling Mr. Hussein, by all accounts one of the world’s most brutal dictators, but touched off a virulent insurgency and relentless sectarian civil war that ultimately killed 4,600 American troops and 3,650 contractors, at least 45,000 members of the Iraqi military and police, at least 35,000 insurgents and an estimated 200,000 civilians.

I hold fromer President George Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney — a strong advocate for the invasion — responsible for the greatest blunder in U.S. policy during my lifetime. Aside from any guilt they may silently carry, only God can hold them accountable when they pass from this life.

The Failure of Silicon Valley Bank

A run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) late last week — when account holders started withdrawing money, fearful that the bank didn’t have sufficient funds to honor their requests, thus fulfilling their fears that the bank would not have the funds to cover all withdrawals — led to the bank’s collapse, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history according to NBC News.

U.S. regulators stepped in, spending the weekend developing a plan to protect all deposited funds, even those exceeding the $250,000 guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The SVB of last week is no more, replaced by a “bridge bank” with a new CEO:

Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. is a new bank that is regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. has fully stepped into the shoes of the former Silicon Valley Bank. — Company News, March 14

SVB’s prior management has no bank to manage, only management questions to answer and tarnished reputations to defend.

The demise of this regional bank, which catered to VCs and their startup companies, unleashed debates about the cause of the collapse and whether the government’s move to protect depositors was a “bailout,” a term that became a pejorative following the Great Recession of 2008. Some argue the FDIC ceiling should not have been raised — don’t protect those rich VCs from moral hazard. Some have inferred that the bank’s failure reflected the higher risk of the startup companies it served.

I think both conclusions are unwarranted. From the varied news reports and opinions I’ve read and heard, I’ve concluded the following:

What Triggered the Run?

Probably to minimize risk and adhere to regulatory requirements, SVB invested some of its deposits in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds. As the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to reduce inflation, the lower yields of SVB’s bonds became a liability: investors could buy Treasury bonds at higher yields than those held by SVB. Faced with a threatened downgrade by Moody’s and depositors withdrawing funds, the bank moved to sell $21.4 billion in bonds — taking a loss of $1.8 billion. That spooked the market and accelerated the run to withdraw funds, which the bank simply couldn’t fulfill. Too much, too fast.

The post mortem on the collapse must determine whether SVB understood its increasing vulnerability as the Fed repeatedly raised interest rates. If so, did it assess the probability of a run, perhaps judging it too low to require action? The threat of Moody’s downgrading SVB apparently prompted management to act, but its options were limited, as it was boxed in by the difference in yields between the bonds it held and current rates.

Making this autopsy more interesting, regulations for mid-sized banks like SVB were relaxed by Congress in 2018, with the bank’s CEO, Greg Becker, an outspoken advocate for looser regulations. Would the previous regulations have prevented SVB’s failure? Or identified the vulnerability in time to address it before the bank run and subsequent collapse?

Coincidentally, the CEO exercised options to buy and sell 12,451 shares of the bank on February 27. Daniel Beck, the CFO, sold 2,000 shares the same day. Both transactions were apparently prescheduled under a 10b5-1 insider trading plan, so they may not indicate that the executives anticipated the failure and sought to enrich themselves. Investigations by the SEC and Justice Department will provide more insight and, hopefully, prosecution if warranted.

Saving the Depositors

Addressing the brouhaha over the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit (per customer per account), let’s start by not equating a checking or savings account as an investment. A key element of a bank’s mission is to provide a safe haven for depositors, one less source of financial risk.

Presumably, many of the accounts at SVB were with businesses, many with multi-million dollar cash flows for staff, supplies, finished goods, capital expenditures, etc. Losing these funds because a company’s account balances exceed the FDIC limit would impair company operations, perhaps catastrophically. Increasing the FDIC limit seems a prudent step to protect the companies and all those who support their operations — none guilty of making a reckless investment.

As the FDIC insurance pool is funded by the banks, not taxpayers, it can be considered a cost of doing business, an investment to ensure public confidence in the banking system.

In the few days since SVB’s collapse, I’m reading of an influx of deposits in big banks such as Bank of America and Citibank, reflecting uncertainty about the security of funds held at regional and local banks. For most individuals, the $250,000 FDIC insurance will be sufficient; however, for companies with larger deposits in checking or savings accounts, increasing the limit seems appropriate and consistent with the goal of a secure banking system.

The FDIC was formed by Congress in 1933. Let’s see if the current recalcitrant Congress will move beyond rhetoric to increase insurance coverage and tighten the regulations to address the root causes of SVB’s failure.

Update: March 18, 2023

Apparently no white knight will rescue SVB, as the parent SVB Financial announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to sell off the assets of the core bank, although not the funds and general partner entities and SVB Securities.

Reuters reported SVB had only $2.2 billion in liquidity, compared to assets of $209 billion at the end of last year. What a fall.

Dishonoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Last week the country honored the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy, lamenting his tragically shortened life and yet unfulfilled promise of racial equity. The same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Alabama and Mississippi memorialized Robert E. Lee’s birthday, state holidays dating from the late 1800s.

Perhaps a Robert E. Lee holiday in the decades post-Reconstruction, when the South was building Jim Crow to undermine the outcome of the Civil War, is understandable. By the 1960s, however, these Confederate celebrations were clearly antithetical to the values of racial equity raised by the Civil Rights movement, hopefully mirrored in the social evolution of the country.

Yet the Robert E. Lee holidays have remained on the calendar, incredibly paired with the MLK holiday in Alabama and Mississippi since it started in 1986. Alabama’s governor and legislature don’t seem bothered by the contradictory values, content to quietly honor the legacy of the Civil War and slavery.

As a new resident of Alabama, I’m appalled by the dissonance, which prompted a letter to the governor:

❝Dear Governor Ivey,

Before moving to Alabama a year ago, I was curious how I would find the state addressing its history of slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. I’ve found some hopeful signs, such as the effort to amend the state constitution to delete racist language. However, I’m appalled that the state has a holiday memorializing Robert E. Lee’s birthday. Even worse, it’s the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday — which I interpret as a sophomoric and impudent attempt to negate the life and contributions of Rev. Dr. King.

Other than the symbolism of Jim Crow, Alabama honoring Robert E. Lee with a holiday surprises me. Lee had no tie to the state other than his military campaigns during the Civil War. Although the record shows he was conflicted by slavery, he fought to preserve it, leading many Confederate soldiers to their deaths under his command.

For Alabama to honor Lee and his legacy with a holiday is inconsistent with reconciling the state’s lamentable racial history. I urge you to use your last term as governor to remove this annual commemoration of the state’s racist past. You have the opportunity to articulate a vision of racial equity that respects all of Alabama’s citizens.

Respectfully,

Gary Lerude

Speaker of the House

After 15 ballots, untold contortions, genuflections, and compromises of his integrity, Kevin McCarthy finally achieved what he’s long coveted: becoming Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Reflected in the number of ballots, he also became leader of a group of recalcitrant and ungovernable Republican representatives — just one now able to call for a vote to oust the speaker. McCarthy will lead with a gun to his head.

In a speech to the chamber after finally securing the role he so desired, McCarthy said, “As Speaker of the House my ultimate responsibility is not to my party. Our responsibility is to our country.”

While their responsibility is to the country, McCarthy’s flip-flops and compromises have unfortunately ceded power to a small group of the most conservative members of the Republican party. Their agenda does not reflect and will not benefit the broad needs of the American people.

We can expect gridlock the next two years.

Alabama Governor Stops Executions, Orders “Top-to-Bottom” Review

On Monday, November 21, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey stopped the Department of Corrections from executing prisoners on death row, ordering a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.” Her action followed two recent executions called off because of problems administering the lethal drugs. These two were preceded by an execution in July that took three hours before Joe Nathan James Jr. was “successfully” killed.

The press release announcing the governor’s action quoted her saying,

“For the sake of the victims and their families, we’ve got to get this right.”

That begs the question: how about the prisoners being executed? Do they deserve a “humane” execution, assuming that’s possible?

Responding to the news of the order, I submitted the following to the governor’s website:

Governor Ivey,

Thank you for stopping prisoner executions in Alabama and ordering a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.” The recent attempted executions of Alan Eugene Miller and Kenneth Eugene Smith following the prolonged execution of Joe Nathan James Jr. reveal a systemic failure with Alabama’s process.

To ensure the integrity of the review and its findings, I urge you to appoint the “reviewers” to be independent of the Department of Corrections. Otherwise, you’re asking the fox to count the chickens in the coop; a few will no doubt disappear.

One additional point: your statement “I don’t buy for a second the narrative being pushed by activists that these issues are the fault of the folks at Corrections or anyone in law enforcement” is nonsensical. Isn’t the execution process defined and controlled by the Department of Corrections? Aren’t department staff solely responsible for the procedure and, therefore, accountable for its integrity? Please don’t stir the political coals.

Without excusing the crimes and the injustice to the victims and their families, those sentenced to die are humans with souls. They deserve the most humane execution Alabama can carry out. Otherwise, the state becomes an instrument of revenge rather than justice.

---

The governor’s order comes admidst earlier lawsuits and investigations from the U.S. Department of Justice, contending the conditions at Alabama’s prisons are unconstitutional because they don’t provide safe and sanitary conditions — safe from other prisoners and prison staff.

Sources and More Info

al.com, Gov. Kay Ivey orders moratorium on executions in Alabama

al.com, Alabama halts executions pending review; expert says investigation ‘needs to be independent’

Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, Dead to Rights

WAAY, DOJ targets Alabama in new investigation into prison conditions, critical staffing shortages

2022 Midterm Elections

Almost two weeks after the midterm election, votes are still being counted — recounted in some elections — and a runoff on December 5 will decide whether Raphael Warnock, the incumbent, or Herschel Walker will represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. We are certain the Democrats will retain control of the Senate, regardless of the outcome of Georgia’s runoff, and Republicans have won enough districts to become the majority party in the House, taking control from the Democrats.

Despite Republicans controlling the House, this outcome is a relief, much better than I expected from the polls and punditry prior to the election. The historical trend is that the party in power loses seats in Congress in the midterm election, and this seemed destined because polls consistently showed voter dissatisfaction with the state of the economy and President Biden’s performance. Inflation remains high, reflected in the food and gas prices Americans pay every day. If that weren’t obvious, Republicans unceasingly blamed the president — ignoring that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted energy and food supplies from both countries.

Fortunately, the Republican majority in the house will be slim. Whoever leads that fractious party, Kevin McCarthy or a more conservative challenger, will have to bow to conservative pressure to investigate the Biden administration. The investigations will begin with son Hunter and his laptop and could lead to impeachment hearings. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced a resolution calling for the president’s impeachment for “abuse of power by enabling bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” See H.Res.57.

Adding to the gravitational pull distorting the next two years, the former president — whom I shall not name — has declared he’s running for president again.

”In order to make America great and glorious again. I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States." — former president Donald Trump

Back to the hopeful outcome of the midterm election, despite the near certainty of a gridlocked Washington for the next two years: despite voter dissatisfaction with the economy and the president’s performance, many voters apparently agreed with President Biden’s argument that the election was a referendum on democracy. The candidates who embraced Donald Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen largely lost their races for the House, governor, and secretary of state. While the races were often close, enough voters seemed concerned by threats to future elections.

Losing access to abortion, with the federal right overturned by the Supreme Court in June, was also a strong factor, which can be inferred from the ballot initiatives in Kansas, during the summer, and California, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York in the midterms.

While the election outcome was not as definitive as I would like, it was far better than my fears, which were turning to depression from the drumbeat of reporting as the election neared. Analyzing the unexpected result, Astead Herndon and Shane Goldmacher in a post-mortem assessment on The Run-Up podcast suggested anti-democracy concerns motivated voters more than dissatisfaction about the economy and President Biden. I concur with that, fro my own fear of Donald Trump or his minions again taking control of government. I can only hope that fear will carry America through the 2024 election, if that’s what it takes.

Words Do Matter

Senator Tuberville,

Moving to Alabama a year ago, I was curious how I would find the state addressing its legacy of slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. I’ve found some hopeful signs, such as amending the state constitution to delete racist language and the portions that have been repealed. However, celebrating Robert E. Lee’s and Jefferson Davis’ birthdays and Confederate Memorial Day as state holidays seems inconsistent with reconciling the state’s lamentable history. Perhaps the idea is to let sleeping dogs lie.

But your remarks at Donald Trump’s political rally in Minden kicked that dog:

“They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that. Bullshit. They are not owed that."

Equating reparations — “something done or money paid to make amends or compensate for a wrong,” meaning the wrong of slavery — to “the people that do the crime” seems patently racist to me. The two are not equal.

Following your unfortunate remarks, you issued no clarification. No apology. No acknowledgment of the slur on 27 percent of the state’s population, whom you are supposed to represent.

Then, when pressed in your recent interview with Lenise Ligon of FOX10 news, you tried to dismiss the critique with an illogical string of words:

“Race has no color. Reparation would have no color.”

That makes no sense, Senator. To quote you, it sounds like BS. I can’t judge your intent, but it seems your remarks reflect the Jim Crow era that framed you.

A Small Yet Significant Step Toward Reducing Gun Deaths

Amazingly, the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre that left 21 dead — 19 elementary school students and two teachers — yielded a bipartisan effort in the Senate to pass very moderate legislation aimed at stemming gun violence. Once approved in the Senate by an unlikely and historic coalition including 15 Republicans, the legislation was rapidly passed by the House and signed by the president.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was “deeply involved in drafting the bill, although the gun rights group ultimately opposed it,” according to The New York Times. That the bill passed, with 13 of the 15 Republicans voting for it having A or A⁺ ratings from the NRA, punctuates the unlikely outcome.

Unfortunately, Alabama’s two senators, Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville, voted against the bill, which prompted me to write each:

Senator,

I’m deeply disappointed that you did not support the gun safety legislation that, fortunately, passed Congress and was signed by President Biden.

The provisions in the bill are reasonable: requiring background checks for first time gun purchasers under 21, closing the “boyfriend loophole,” funding state grants to implement red flag laws, funding mental health programs, funding increased security at schools.

Your fellow conservative, Republican Senator John Cornyn, worked arduously to ensure the legislation does not infringe on our Second Amendment rights. So I cannot understand your unwillingness to support it and extend grace to the parents who have lost children to senseless and tragic mass shootings.

Respectfully,

We Want More Than Thoughts and Prayers

Another tragic massacre of 19 children and two teachers, killed by an angry 18-year-old with a semi-automatic rifle. The reflexive response from Congress is to offer thoughts and prayers for the families and defer any suggestion of tougher access to guns, saying this is not the time for politics. The country's seeming acceptance of the tragedy is infuriating. Surely this is not what the writers of the Constitution had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.

My response, seemingly futile, is to write Senators Shelby and Tuberville and Representative Rogers:

Following another tragic slaughter of American children and their teachers, it’s time for Congress to do more than offer thoughts and prayers and lamely suggest we arm our teachers.

No, I’m not suggesting we disarm America. I do respect the Second Amendment and know that most gun owners are responsible.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment is not without limits, and we accept the longstanding law restricting the right to own automatic weapons. So placing additional measures such as requiring background checks, increasing the legal age for purchasing firearms, and licensing some gun purchases seem like reasonable steps that won’t violate the Constitution.

Yes, I know those steps won’t eliminate gun deaths, just as seat belts and air bags don’t eliminate deaths from car accidents. Yet seat belts and air bags have measurably reduced deaths and were implemented as part of a continuous process to improve automotive safety. We should adopt the same philosophy to reduce gun deaths — particularly mass shootings.

Our children’s lives are sacred, more than the NRA’s talking points echoed by too many of our elected leaders. We must do more than offer thoughts and prayers. It’s time to explore reasonable options with earnestness and humility, honoring these children whose lives have ended too soon and so tragically.

Sincerely,

Gary Lerude

Alabama Politics Trumps Transgender Health

This is my first letter to an Alabama politician since we moved to Opelika in November: 

Governor Ivey,

I am distraught by your support of the so-called Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which does not provide compassion or protection. Thankfully, Judge Liles Burke’s ruling stopped your misguided and harmful plan to ban puberty blockers and hormones for minors with gender dysphoria. His injunction provided ample justification for the ruling:

”the uncontradicted record evidence is that at least twenty-two major medical associations in the United States endorse transitioning medications as well-established, evidence-based treatments for gender dysphoria in minors.”

Further, your Tweet claiming knowledge of God’s intentions reveals hubris, a lack of knowledge of gender dysphoria, callous indifference for the mental health challenges faced by children with gender dysphoria, and disregard for parental rights — which I thought was a bedrock principle of Republicans. It’s really not simple.

"we’re going to go by how God made us: if the Good Lord made you a boy, you’re a boy, and if he made you a girl, you’re a girl. It’s simple."

For the health of the transgender youth of Alabama, I urge you to get to know several families with transgender youth and meet with the medical community to become more informed. It may not make for great election year politics, but it’s the principled step to take.

Respectfully,

20 Years Later

On the 20th anniversary of the sudden shift in world history we call 9/11, the brazen and brilliant attack on America, I'm at a family gathering in the Great Smokey Mountains. I feel the cool morning warmed by the sun and hear the sound of Le Conte creek coming up through the trees outside our room. This morning, life is normal as our family catches up with each other's lives while the TV, sound muted, shows the memorial in New York City, the president and vice president looking somber, Bruce Springsteen singing. No one here is watching. We don't pause our conversation for the moment of silence observed by the crowd in New York.

That morning, 20 years ago, I was working in my office in Lowell, expecting a colleague from Roanoke to fly up for a meeting and dinner. I don't recall whether he called or emailed saying he wasn't coming, referring to a plane crash. Ed was somewhat cautious and didn't enjoy flying, so I initially thought this was a convenient excuse to cancel the trip. I walked upstairs to the cafeteria and stopped in the auditorium, where a large group had gathered around a TV, watching the smoke billowing from the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It was immediately obvious, underscored by the horror of seeing the towers fall. This was no accident. The twin towers, the attack on the Pentagon, then the downed airliner in Pennsylvania, mercifully crashed while heading back to a target in Washington.

9/11 dramatically shifted the agenda of the U.S. government, and those decisions will shape the country for generations. First, the invasion of Afghanistan to quell Al-Qaeda, then on to Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, incorrectly accused of being a collaborator and a terrorist threat.

U.S. armed forces have been mired in both countries for 20 years — just extracting ourselves ingloriously from Afghanistan, enabling the Taliban to recapture the country without a fight. We tried to leave Iraq during President Obama's term, creating a vacuum that enabled the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria, which required a renewed military campaign to defeat it. Defeat is too strong an assessment; weaken and disperse are more accurate and hopefully sufficient to prevent ISIS from again threatening innocent people with their fundamentalist and brutal orthodoxy.

While I find leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban deeply troubling, especially the uncertain fate of the country's women, I support President Biden's decision, although not the way it was implemented. Staying there would be a forever war if we retained a military presence to keep the Taliban from taking over while acquiescing to the massive corruption.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — the lives lost, the financial cost, the distraction from other global priorities — was a policy blunder equal to the one in Vietnam in the 1960s, a blunder born of anger and hubris. War is a blunt act of vengeance, often harming the innocent more than the enemy. Establishing a just, representative government in a country is a goal that has consistently evaded U.S. policy.

Perhaps the clearest act of justice in response to 9/11: Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by U.S. special forces at his hideaway in Pakistan after an unrelenting 10-year search.

Reflecting on the course of these 20 years, I wish those who lost family and friends will be comforted and inspired by memories of the good times and how they lived. For those who served valiantly in Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking justice and helping plant the seeds of democracy, I hope they can find satisfaction from their efforts, despite the inability to see those seeds fully bloom. And I pray our leaders will find humility as they steer the ship of state in this uncertain world

Initially published on September 11, 2021 on my HEY World blog.

Variation on a Theme

The resurgence of coronavirus infections from the Delta variant seems like a variation on the tragedy of the commons.

As originally proposed, a tragedy of the commons refers to individuals acting independently in their own self interest, ultimately depleting a natural resource until it's no longer available to anyone. The players pursue their short-term interests without considering the needs of others nor their own long-term interest. A group of farmers who let their cows graze on a shared field (the common) until the grass is gone was reportedly the example used to illustrate the initial concept. A real, current example: restrictions to prevent overfishing the waters off New England.

Turning to the variation: the SARS-CoV-2 virus keeps mutating, a clear example of evolution, with the surviving variants better adapted to infecting people and propagating the virus. The Delta variant first appeared in India last fall, where a huge unvaccinated population provided a fertile environment. Travelers then carried it other countries, and it seems to be the dominant variant in the U.S., hospitalizing and killing the unvaccinated. As troubling, it is infecting the vaccinated, who have mild symptoms yet serve as carriers to spread infections.

It's a tragic reversal for Americans, just as we were shifting back to "normal" and enjoying the summer.

The best way to defeat the virus hasn't changed since the start of 2021: get vaccinated, avoid gatherings with groups in tightly packed spaces, and wear a mask around anyone who could be a carrier. Straightforward, yet some Americans feel being told to get vaccinated and wear a mask are infringements on individual liberty. They resist and protest, encouraged by political leaders who fan the "don't tread on me" flames.

And so we have a tragedy, like a tragedy of the commons. As individuals exercise their personal liberty, society suffers. Infections increase and people die.

Governments and businesses are now imposing vaccinate or test mandates and requiring that people wear masks. Ironically, this response could have been avoided if only those advocating personal liberty had chosen to get vaccinated and wear a mask "for the good of the country." Unfortunately, paraphrasing Voltaire, no snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche.

Initially published on August 1, 2021 on my HEY World blog.