Halloween spirit encourages us to dress up for trick or treat ,answering the door, cocktail parties or dinners. I had stopped participating at my advanced age, well maybe a spider tee shirt or an old rock group sweat shirt. This year our grand daughter Margie was going to the Bingo dinner as Princess Peach, who is that you might ask? Peach was raised in the Mushroom Kingdom by the Toads. Margie’s mom suggested we go as Peach’s friends. Megan was the famous life giving mushroom and Karen and I were Mario and Luigi. In case you did not realize, this all started in l983 when the Japanese creator brought Mario to life. These beloved characters are still going strong, I was joined at the event by many young Mario characters. Lots of high fives and fist bumps from our kindred spirits.
I mentioned “Fever in the Heartland” a non fiction account of the rise of the KKK in our country. One woman, Madge Oberholtzer, gave her life to expose the true Klan. Madge was kidnapped and suffered unthinkable abuse at the hands of the Grand Dragon. The Klan had infiltrated our political circles, churches, and law enforcement. The Grand said he was the “the law in Indiana.” It took Madge’s dying declaration and several very brave lawyers to bring him to trial and put him away for life.
In our country, there were about 6 million Klan members in the mid 20’s that number reduced to less than 100,000 by the end of that decade. Remember it was a secret society, the Invisible people shrouded in their hoods with hatred in their hearts for everyone except the true blood people. They hid behind prohibition and frightened or bribed Religious leaders to pitch the Klan. They made no secret that it was about white supremacy. At the highest levels of Government they were active; They sponsored the Immigration Act of 1924 that sharply restricted the numbers of Jews, Catholics, southern and Eastern Europeans, Asians and Africans that could come to America. Eugenics led them to voluntary sterilization laws. These laws stayed on the books for multiple decades.
I tell you this as we now face a Republican Speaker of the House who is an election denier, is anti abortion, and does not support the alternative life styles of our modern age. He does claim to support Israel but has voted against additional aid for Ukraine. Time will tell whether he can lead the party but right now we need to extend the CR to take a default off the table and to continue to support Ukraine. If you agree, please contact our U S Representatives about the future of our democracy.
Dress up and act like you are young again; avoid those really dumb decisions.
Fall is here, snow in the mountains in McCall and the tamaracks are nearly done shedding their needles. Enjoy the fall. Mike