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The mid-term election results could have been much worse. The Democrats got control of the house, but the results were far short of the predicted overwhelming blue wave. Actually, I think it is good that neither party is in total control of government. It will be interesting to see how Nancy Pelosi plays the role of obstructionist to presidential initiatives. The Republicans haven’t been able to blame Democrats for government shutdowns. Now they will have the chance, and it will be interesting to watch. My wife and I saved a...
I was raised around strong women. My 4-foot-10-inch grandmother was one of the strongest human beings I have ever known. My mother’s sisters worked on the farm along with my uncles and me. My sister could whip any kid in school and was one of the finest athletes I have known. They didn’t ask for special consideration, nor did they carry protest signs. They certainly don’t consider themselves victims and dislike militant feminists as much as I do. I have a good friend who is an ordained minister in his church. I was proud...
By FRANK WATSON I did my student teaching at Shadle Park High School several years ago. I was a nontraditional student in that I had a full Air Force career behind me and was significantly older than most teacher candidates. I walked into my assigned class and introduced myself to my mentor teacher. He took one look at the mature guy with a full beard and said, “You got it.” I never saw him again. I was left with 15 advanced students who were as leery of me as I was of them. The text book had “Current World Problems” printed...
I was reading a book the other day with the television as background noise. The book wasn’t very good, so I was waiting for something other than a political ad when a statement caught my ear. I can usually ignore statements I disagree with, but this one was a bit much. It told the listening audience that we need to get big oil to pay for the pollution they caused. I guess it caught my attention because it is illogical twice. First, big oil won’t pay for anything. They are not the source of money. The customers who pay for...
Tis the season. We have four seasons in Eastern Washington: basketball season, dry season, fire season and political season. We are slowly making it through the season for politics. As bad as it seems, it could be worse. We could be in a presidential election year. National politics are depressing. Issues don’t seem to matter. Am I the only one who is tired of having my favorite TV program interrupted by candidates bashing each other? If this continues into “Dancing With the Stars,” I am going to scream. How many good peopl...
Like many Americans, I watched the testimony of Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the halfway point, following Ford’s testimony, I was convinced Kavanaugh was toast. Ford’s demeanor as well as her words were compelling. In today’s America, a woman’s accusation is more credible than a man’s denial. Thus, at that point, I didn’t think he had a chance. I believed her. Kavanaugh’s rebuttal, however, was equality compelling. He presented himself as a victim, both injured and angry. In add...
My first new car was a Chevy Malibu made in Detroit. A few years later, my wife and I bought a few acres north of Airway Heights and thought we needed a small truck. I wouldn’t settle for anything but an American brand and was surprised to find that our new Luv truck was made in Japan. The only thing American on it was the Chevy emblem. My next truck was a half-ton Chevy made in Canada. It was followed by a Ford made in Mexico. During my rebellious phase, I owned a Harley that was made in Milwaukee. Thus, I was a bit s...
I recently took my grandson back to the Midwest to get better acquainted with some of his relatives. He is only recently aware that he is related to a huge clan of Midwesterners. While there, I watched as two of my kinfolks debated whether or not Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed to fill the opening on the Supreme Court. The debate gravitated to Roe vs. Wade then moved on to the morality of abortion. One was adamantly pro-choice and the other just as firm pro-life. The pro-life asked me if I could think of any situation...
If you would talk to some of my Air Force buddies from the Vietnam era, you would find that I dreamed of being a teacher and football coach for a long time. When I had sufficient time in military service, I decided to obtain my teaching credentials and pursue my dream. I could have chosen any state in the union. I owned a home in Nebraska left over from my assignment to the base in Omaha. My parents wanted me to return to my roots in the Midwest, but I chose to settle in Eastern Washington. I had been stationed at Fairchild...
A friend and I were engaged in a bit of fanciful wishful thinking the other day when he asked me how I would improve our country with a $100 million or so. I quickly ran down the list of national problems we are rapidly leaving for our grandchildren. A hundred million wouldn’t do much for the national debt, so I scrolled down to our utter dependence on fossil fuels. I’m not concerned that our oil and coal reserves will run out in my lifetime, but the supply is finite and will eventually be depleted. In the long term, we hav...
I visited my favorite supermarket the other day and got lost in the produce section. The price of apples had gone up 50 percent. They were from New Zealand and sported green “organic” labels. They were supposed to have been raised according to nature’s way and healthier than those costing much less. I ended up buying some because I couldn’t find any at the regular price. They tasted just like the regular ones I bought last week When I was a kid growing up on the farm, we used only organic methods. It wasn’t because Grandpa wa...
A few weeks ago, I was in a serious discussion with a young friend who claimed that the Washington state tax system is unfair to the poor. I asked how he came to that conclusion, and he said the rich in Washington pay a lower percent of their income in taxes than the poor. I pondered that for a second and asked where he came to that conclusion. You guessed it. He said, “Well, everybody knows that.” I told him that I didn’t know that and would need to think on it. He got mad and stomped out. I knew that his claim had to have...
Last week my wife and I both received scam attempts. The scammers didn’t get any money from us, but they did cause some inconvenience. In some way that I don’t pretend to understand, they hacked into my wife’s computer, locked it up and demanded that she pay a ransom to have it released. She took it to our local computer store who got rid of the scammers in less than a minute. Mine was a phone call from a sexy voiced computer telling me that I had problems with my credit card, and I needed to call them to have the problem res...
My niece and nephew recently came to visit from the Midwest. They had never seen this part of the world, and I thought they would be impressed with the variety of ecosystems in Eastern Washington. Thus, I was a bit surprised when their initial request was to take a ride in “Uncle Frank’s snazzy convertible.” We mounted up, and I was about to start the engine when they asked for help with their seat belts. These kids, ages five and nine, were conditioned to buckle up before the car was put in motion. I was impressed with...
We had a cold wet spring. I don’t know whether to blame global warming or Donald Trump, but it sure was hard on my garden. I didn’t think my corn was ever going to come up. I am glad warm weather has finally arrived. I became aware of the arrival of summer this week as I was sitting at an outside table in a small strip mall slurping a huckleberry milkshake and watching the traffic go by. It seemed almost every vehicle was either pulling a boat or an RV; some were pulling both. I was raised on a farm so I was introduced to...
I read a recent syndicated column blaming President Donald Trump for the recent shooting in the newsroom in Annapolis. Whoa! That is a stretch. The president has certainly been critical of the national press, but his opinion surely didn’t incite the gunman. Everything I know about the tragedy indicates that the deranged shooter had a personal beef with the paper. There isn’t any evidence that the gunman was even aware of presidential tweets. To criticize Donald Trump for this catastrophe is unreasonable and is not based on...
Our governor and attorney general are at it again. They decided to sue the president over his policy to separate the children of illegal immigrants when the parents are detained. The paperwork was prepared and ready to submit when the president caved under public outcry and reversed his policy. Rather than waste a good opportunity to file a lawsuit, our state leaders modified a couple sentences and filed suit claiming that reversing the separation policy wasn’t enough. I wonder what they really want. The only possibilities I...
I frequently decompress by laying back in my overstuffed recliner as I read the paper. I was doing fine until a sentence in a nationally syndicated column caught my eye and raised my blood pressure. This well known columnist said he didn’t want to understand the conservatives, he simply wanted to defeat them. Wow! So much for finding the middle ground. This ultra-adversarial attitude is becoming more and more common. At my family reunion a few months ago, one of my relatives proclaimed she hated those damned Republicans. ...
It is popular to pick on our president. He makes it so easy that anyone can do it. The recent meeting with the North Korean dictator should have been praiseworthy, but president Trump’s unorthodox leadership style brought criticism instead. I have worked for some very good bosses and a few bad ones. The good ones were all predictable. I found it easy to support them, because they kept their staff informed. I knew what they were thinking and what they were going to do. Mr. Trump, however, enjoys surprises. His offer to stop j...
By FRANK WATSON Contributor Seattle is leading the effort to save our planet from ourselves. They have joined Portland and a host of California cities in the battle against plastic drinking straws. A school boy noticed discarded straws outside fast food outlets and wrote an essay spurring environmentalists into action. The fight has spread from the classroom to city councils and state legislatures across the land. The first success I noticed was in Portland’s conversion to biodegradable straws. Some mornings I need my c...
I am usually fairly easy to get along with. I accept most things, even dumb things, without getting my dander up. But, when presented with unsupported claims based on widespread rumors, I have been known to lose my patience. I was venting the other day to a friend of mine who was, is, and always will be a woman’s rights activist. The subject was a political ad that claimed women only make 76 percent of what men make for identical work. I questioned the claim as either a gross misrepresentation of partial data or an example o...
Congratulations. You have successfully completed your public education and are about to enter the real world. It isn’t that school is not the real world, but it is a special world where you are not fully responsible for your actions and most mistakes have no real long-term consequences. You are considered children still learning the difference between right and wrong. That changes when you walk across the stage and receive your diploma. From the beginning of time, all cultures have had a rite of passage children go through t...
Every now and again I come across something that is unbelievably dumb. It seems that there is currently an epidemic of very stupid things in the news. I don’t have space enough to cover them all, so I have selected three that my old friend Oscar would say, “are as dumb as a whole box of rocks.” It should come as no surprise that the second runner-up comes from the far side of the Cascades. It seems that King County is suing the five major oil companies for global warming. The petition alleges that the oil companies provi...
Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 election is getting more and more press lately. The prosecutor and his team are not actually tasked with finding out if the Russians tried to influence the election. That is the purview of the FBI. The special prosecutor law limits investigations to alleged misconduct of federal elected officials while in office. Thus, Mueller’s team is investigating whether or not someone in our government worked with the Russians in an alleged attempt to influence ou...
My first teaching job was in a Spokane middle school. I was hired for one semester while an experienced teacher had both knees replaced. It was an interesting assignment. A week or so after I began, I was given notes for the kids to take home announcing an upcoming open house. I assumed I was included, so I showed up at the announced date and time to discover I was the only teacher there. The principal informed me that this activity was not in the union contract, and teachers were not allowed to attend. As I was not a member...
