I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: politics

  • let’s talk infrastructure – better days ahead

    let’s talk infrastructure – better days ahead


    Life is messy, to quote a favorite Pretty-ism, and governing in a democracy of 333,600,000+ citizens is as messy as it gets. While electing 435 Representatives and 100 Senators to enact legislation that will “form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” sounds like a sensible plan, well…even the preamble to the Constitution occasionally gets lost in translation.

    President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda reflected in a House bill called the Infrastucture Investment and Jobs Act passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 228 yeas to 206 nays (with 13 Republicans voting yes and 6 Democrats voting no) as the clock approached midnight on November 5th., nearly three months after the Senate passed its version of the bill on August 10th. – three months of very public internal disagreements among Democrats that insured no domestic tranquility in the Congress amid plummeting poll numbers for Biden. Messy politics.

    So what’s in it for me, you ask. Why should I care?

    Hm. Raise your hand if you are tired of overcrowded interstate highways patched together with crazy glue, holding your breath in fear as you cross crumbling bridges over the rivers or angst about fires in the woods on the way to grandmother’s house for the holidays, racing to archaic airports unable to handle the traffic in the air above them or the press of the passengers scurrying to different gates for connecting flights in terminals, cringing at the idea of drinking water from your kitchen tap, worried about climate change but so overwhelmed with the concept you have no idea whether recycling is a myth, the skyrocketing price of gasoline for a car too old to be a hybrid or driving a new electric car in a frantic search for a charging port, hoping you will have WI-FI when your children attend school in cyberspace, wishing you had a mass transit system that wasn’t created in 1904, and wondering if the grid for your power will hold during surges for heat in the winter or whether you will be sitting in the dark, freezing, with thoughts of burning your tax returns for survival.

    Yes, my fellow American citizens, I see your hands raised in frustration, anger, doubt, about the intelligence and/or integrity of your elected officials who seem to be incapable of playing well together when the game is on the line. I feel your pain – my hand is raised high above the white hair on my head. Hint to elected officials: the game is on the line.

    Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, come blow your horn. There should be joy in America tonight mixed with gratitude for legislation promising better days ahead that will propel our nation’s infrastructure into the 21st. century. President Biden’s campaign promises to improve prosperity for ourselves and our posterity haven’t struck out. Indeed, he is still at bat in the White House, and he’s swinging for the fences. You go, Joe.

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    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • murdaugh mysteries it’s not

    murdaugh mysteries it’s not


    Regular updates on the status of the investigations for the five murders now associated with the name Murdaugh in South Carolina make news not just in our state but around the country, perhaps even reaching the far corners of the earth. Amazing the interest in this story which has made-for- movies written all over it. Ditto the shooting of the cinematographer on an actual movie set – the film called “Rust.” Regardless of who will be held responsible the idea of a movie star like Alec Baldwin pulling the trigger adds notoriety to the tragedy.

    Even my sister in Texas asked me what was going on in the Murdaugh case? Alas, I had nothing more to offer than the updates she and I both saw in the news. Alex Murdaugh, household name from the state of South Carolina.

    John Monk of The State newspaper gave an interesting update on a lesser known South Carolinian in an article that appeared in the Crime section of The State on October 28th. Paul Colbath of Fort Mill. Anyone ever heard of him?

    Paul was charged with “disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia. Colbath was arrested after a tipster contacted the FBI National Threat Operations Center to report that he ‘had been publicly bragging to friends and family’ about participating in the riots at the Capitol.”

    According to Monk, Colbath appeared in court in Columbia on October 28th., and Judge Shiva Hodges released him on a $25,000 unsecured bond. In his FBI interview, Colbath denied an assault on the Capitol, saying instead he entered through an open door. The State article quoted court records indicating Colbath didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong but did feel guilty about his participation in the activities all of us witnessed with our own eyes live and in color that day.

    Ten other South Carolinians have also been arrested for crimes allegedly committed by them in the Capitol on January 6th of 2021: Nicholas Languerand, Andrew Hatley, John Getsinger, Jr., Stacie Hargis-Getsinger, Elias Irizarry, Elliott Bishai, William Norwood III, George Tenney III, Derek Gunby, and James W. Lollis, Jr. From the upstate in York and Anderson Counties to The Citadel in Charleston, these folks who are our neighbors, our fellow citizens have been arrested and are currently participating in a different form of accountability that is our judicial process.

    Monk’s October 28th. article continued with the following information.

    “Some 150 police were injured in the riot and one alleged rioter was killed after she attempted to climb through a smashed door window leading to the House chamber. In the 10 months since Jan. 6, more than 650 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, including more than 190 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia. The investigation is ongoing.”

    The Alex Murdaugh murder mysteries are definitely intriguing with their twists of plot – I don’t want to miss the latest scoop. The investigations into the murder on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust will be international news as well, but I don’t feel anything personal when I hear the latest news reports on these cases.

    I did on January 6th and do ten months later, however, feel very personally the attack on our Capitol which hadn’t been breached in that way since 1812. I watched in horror, with disbelief as my fellow countrymen and women tried to interfere with the democratic process on that day with such violence. So when I hear the verdicts for the people from my state, I will definitely feel a sense of personal relief if they are proven innocent or profound grief mixed with anger if they are found guilty.

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    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • a belated Happy Pride!

    a belated Happy Pride!


    photo from Scott Brown’s FB

    This past weekend was SC Pride for 2021 – the annual march was Friday night, Festival on Saturday, and recovery yesterday. Although Pretty and I weren’t able to participate in the festivities, we were thrilled to feel the excitement in the downtown area as it came alive with the electricity of Pride! Our gratitude to all those who did take advantage of the weekend’s celebration of our LGBTQ+ community – nothing better than a good march to empower and inspire the marchers.

    Six years ago today as I walked away from the 2015 Pride March and Festival I stopped to take this iconic image of lesbians celebrating on Sumter Street. Clearly inspired, obviously empowered. This remains one of my favorite photos to this day.

    Finally, another favorite from the 2014 Pride celebration:

    The girls (and guys!) who march and/or ride for equal rights truly do rock.

    Happy Pride! Onward.

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    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • the return of the bully

    the return of the bully


    Apparently bully cats are like bully ex-presidents: they keep on turning up.

    Bully Cat races past me on my morning walk today

    When I was 10 minutes from home on my walk this morning, I spotted Bully Cat a short distance away. We were both surprised, startled, and stared at one another. I made a quick decision to snap his picture, but he seemed to recognize me from our earlier encounters in our driveway this week and took off. Hence, the blurry image. However, when he was a safe distance away from me and my cell phone camera, he stopped and gave me this look.

    Bully Cat 100% recognized me

    Warmer weather the past couple of nights saw Pretty’s puddy tat Lilibets in her familiar surroundings of our carport with her equally familiar place on the top step of our steps leading to the kitchen door from the carport when she’s ready for her two square Fancy Feast meals daily. For more than a month she has staked that place to make sure I don’t forget about her when I feed our three dogs who are, thankfully, all inside.

    I wasn’t sure this morning if Pretty’s Lilibets was with us because she hadn’t been visible like she normally would be when I exited the house for my walk. I also didn’t see her on my way home when I walked past Neighbor John’s house, but I did see John leaving for work. I called out to wish him a good morning and he gave me a friendly wave. Neighbor John and I are now clearly best friends.

    I checked the flower bed at the house across the street from John’s (the house of the two lesbians according to Pretty who knows every lesbian within miles) but no sign of our cat.

    I saw no evidence of Lilibets under either one of our antique vehicles when I walked up the driveway so maybe she had vanished again. But no, she appeared mysteriously on the top step waiting for breakfast to be served when she heard the dogs barking for their meal. I gave her fresh water and her delicious Fancy Feast meal mixed with a few dry pellets. She actually purred and allowed me to pet her today. Wow. Incredible progress from the cat who chose to ignore me when I appeared in John’s driveway. Fickle.

    I watched Lilibets eat from the kitchen door for a few minutes and then went in the back yard to water flowers for a little while. Still no rain in the forecast. Felt like summer. Sigh. Flowers on their last legs or, er, petals.

    I went back to the kitchen door to check on Lilibet’s progress and lo and behold, what do you think I saw???!!!

    The evil Bully Cat was eating our cat’s food and had scared away our puddy tat who was nowhere to be seen.

    I went nuclear, hollering obscenities, rushing toward the Bully Cat with all the ferocity my 75 year old white-haired self could muster. You better run, you feline son of a you-know-what. You better hope I don’t catch up with you – I will make you wish you had picked another driveway to rob, etc.

    The Bully Cat did run…all the way across the street where he stopped long enough to look back at me with a mocking glance. Then he disappeared.

    After much cajoling, reassurances, and replenishing the food bowl Lilibets returned to the top step and finally felt a resurgence of her appetite. I stood guard while she polished off most of her food followed by sips of water. She and I had a common enemy now. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, if I remember that quote correctly. Evidently Pretty’s cat and I are buddies.

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    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • an unexpected nugget from Pretty

    an unexpected nugget from Pretty


    Yesterday I was in the unfortunate position of needing postage to mail my cousin Melissa’s birthday card – the card I already know will be late – when, alas, the postage stamps I’d ordered from the usps hadn’t arrived in the mail. At various times during the past 20 years Pretty has offered her stamps in the unlikely event I should ever run out. I routinely rejected her offer but I was in a bind yesterday and had forgotten why I refused her generosity in the past so last night Pretty found her stamp collection in a small retail shop bag she had carefully kept in the bowels of her office.

    I rummaged through the bag and a flashback hit me. Pretty doesn’t buy forever stamps because that would be too easy. Instead I found an assortment of stamps ranging from 2 cents to 33 cents. Seriously, Pretty? I couldn’t call this a stamp “collection” but it was a collection of stamps. I managed to come up with enough postage to mail Melissa’s card; usps now says a card from South Carolina to Texas could take until her next birthday to get there. Regardless, thanks to Pretty for saving the day.

    But greater thanks to her for this nugget of writing that was copied on a sheet of regular 8 x 11 white paper, folded in half and oddly mixed in with the stamps. I felt these words about racism from the American author and poet Scott Woods speaking directly to me – I wish I had written them.

    “The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that. Racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to continue working on the behalf of whites at other people’s expense, whether whites know /like it or not. Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn’t care if you are a white person who likes Black people; it’s still going to find a way to infect how you deal with people who don’t look like you. Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation. Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It’s a set of socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I know it’s hard work, but it’s the price you pay for owning everything.”

    Sometimes I’m a storyteller. Sometimes I’m a word collector much like Pretty’s stamp “collection” which saved those words for me, for all of us.

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    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.