Don't blame me! Really?


A Grand Haven businessman is the center of a local controversy today, after posting a 1,200-word diatribe on Facebook. It all began when the local health department insisted that his employees wear face masks. His anger festered, then exploded. His eruption on FB didn’t stop at face masks, but went on to express strong opinions on COVID 19, Black Lives Matter, journalists, politics, and much more.

After reading about that outburst, I was heartened to read another article, this by Washington Post writer Max Boot, who was reflecting on the pandemic, as well as blame being placed on the President and a variety of state governors. He recalled the adage, “every nation gets the government it deserves.” Said Boot: "Trump and the Trumpy governors did not seize power by force. They were elected by constituents…"

He’s singing my song!

You’ve heard numerous verses of that very song on this blog site.

On ill-advised commutations by the President, and zero commutations by the Governor: If we remain silent, we become part of the problem.

Our role in prison reform: …whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17

On resumption of federal executions: A movement within the Catholic Church is calling on all of us to “proclaim on the housetops the dignity of all human life.” I’ve signed it. I’m asking you to sign it.

On prisoner problems: If you are a person who prays, I invite you to remember the thousands of prisoners and former prisoners facing problems like these or worse,

On Injustice: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Robert F. Kennedy
              
On attitudes re prisoners and prison guards: The ball is in our court. May change begin with us.

On racial injustice: The blame goes far beyond rogue white cops. It includes white prosecutors and judges, but goes even further. It is time for us to lament. To confess. And then to be voices and examples for change. We are to blame.

It’s easy to get pissed, like Carl Nelson, and start blaming everyone for everything we don’t like. It’s easy for me to get that way over all these darn prison issues.

The difficult part is accepting our own responsibility. From prisoner issues to national crises, we gotta stop the blame game. It’s time to look in the mirror!

"We live in a culture of blame. People will blame anyone or anything for their misery sooner than take the responsibility to own it and make it better."
 Dr. Henry Cloud

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more