How to Revise, Deny, and Obfuscate to Blissful Ignorance

Last week Kristin and I went on a little expedition to The Hiawassee Refuge which is a wintering spot for Sandhill Cranes at Birchwood, Tennessee.  It is located at the confluence of the Hiawassee and Tennessee rivers.  There is an observation deck from which you can see big groups of Sandhill Cranes as they come in from feeding on local farmland and sit down on the mud flats beside the river.  You might also see Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, Ospreys,  several brands of waterfowl, and a big assortment of regular ol' birds including the Eastern Bluebird. We enjoyed seeing, and especially hearing, the cranes as they gracefully glide in and settle in the fields or on the water.

We also got to see a bunch of Cardinals.  Cardinals are still a big deal to us because they don't live in the areas where we spent most of our lives.  Once while I was working in Kentucky I made a comment to a workmate about how thrilled I was to see a bright Cardinal for the first time.  He said, "They're common as assholes 'round here." So I got to hear that expression for the first time, and see my  first Cardinal on the same day!

An unexpected bonus on the trip was the opportunity to see the Cherokee Removal Memorial which is a memorial to this unfortunate chapter in American History.  It marks a location that was central in the tragic story of the exploitation of native people to accommodate white settlement.  A key factor was the discovery of gold in the nearby area of North Georgia.  How many times have we heard that one?

The memorial is well done and well maintained. There is a manned visitor center where you can watch a film that tells the story of The Trail of Tears.  They also have related artifacts from the area and displays that add context.  Outside there are beautiful granite monuments that list the names of some who were lost on the journey, or lost in the miserable encampment they were forced into before the march began.

Truth is on its own trail of tears:

There were a number of things going on in the news in the days surrounding our visit to the Cherokee Removal Memorial that brought its significance into a new light.  The first headline I remember seeing was something like:  Trump Administration Bans Black History Month.  My first thought was, "How the hell do you ban something that is more of an idea than an event."  Of course, it turns out that the real policy change was to disallow the spending of federal funds in support of any cultural recognition events (ideas) in the government workplace.  That's not quite the same as outlawing a thought, but still pretty ludicrous if you think about it.  I mean how big of a problem is it really?

It brings to mind a horribly sexist philosophy expressed by my old mining partner, Scotty Young.  Scotty said that it was a man's solemn responsibility to go out once a month and get drunk and stay out all night.  He said that if you don't give a woman something to bitch about, she'll start making stuff up.  We constantly see MAGA world getting all bent about shit that applies to like one-half of one percent of the population.  I honestly can't remember the last time a transgender person leapt out from behind a dumpster and tried to recruit me.

Sometimes when I'm hard up for entertainment or need a new dose of outrage, I'll go over and check out X/Twitter.  I see a lot of reference to how horrible the Biden years were.  If you think the Biden years were bad, you must have spent the first Trump administration living in a secluded villa overlooking a beach in Majorca getting handfed grapes while being fanned with palm fonds by pneumatic nymphs (or Chippendales, depending on your preference). 

The next news event that ties in is the Tennessee State Legislature passing a school vouchers scam and how it relates disturbing trends.

To be continued.