AMERICAN PROCESS = THE GRIND

American process is what we’re famous for around here.

The U.S. didn’t become what it is today by scrapping everything and starting over, although some argue that that’s what FDR did in the Great Depression.

Not my argument. Why? Because FDR was schooled in the American process.

He had been a state senator, assistant secretary of the Navy, and state governor before the presidency.

 Seventeen presidents have been state governors, too.

That’s one grind.

Another is military experience.

Thirty-one presidents came with service, from general, colonel, lieutenant colonel, major (after Fillmore’s presidency), lieutenant commander, commander, captain, lieutenant,

One was a patriot horse-thief who may have been a private, another started as a private and rose to general.

No NCOs, no sergeants, which is no surprise. They are ‘get it done’ guys, not ‘let’s talk about it’ guys.

Seven have been businessmen, according to Time Magazine 

CBS News says sixteen have been senators.

Wiki lists every job every president had.

They listed one president with no government or military experience.

 

When you hear the word ‘Grind’ associated with elected office what do you think?

I think late nights, early mornings, travel, speaking to groups, and sitting for advice from trusted sources.

And that’s just the campaigning.

Then there’s The Oath of Office before they start the job they were elected to do:

 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

 

The Grind To Preserve, Protect, and Defend

I take the idea to preserve, protect, and defend personally. Maybe you too?

Because I’ve seen the American process from so many different angles, it feels personal.

Starting when I left home, which was a four bedroom, two bath house my parents built in North Bend, Oregon, to cheap apartments in the unsavory guts of two east coast cities, I’d seen it all. Or, so I thought.

Back then I figured I’d never live as well as my parents. I came to that conclusion in my Brooklyn, NY apartment while I sat by my third floor window with a good view of the neighborhood.

Sunset Park had become a ‘white flight’ neighborhood, according to my landlord. That may have been why the rent was so cheap? Maybe?

The view of the neighborhood on weekend nights was of my neighbors burning stolen cars on a side street that dead-ended to a high metal fence before an expressway.

The guy in the candy store across the street explained it when I stopped in to cash a traveler’s check.

He was friendly enough but saw the traveler’s check as counterfeit money and wouldn’t cash me out.

I didn’t argue.

Since then my interpretation of preserve, protect, and defend has grown.

All of us deserve the leadership from presidents who can identify with the people, from those who never leave the block they grew up on, the town they grew up in, to those who see the world as their stage.

I’ve left my home state a couple of times, moved out with no plan to move back. But I moved back.

As fate has it, I moved back. met a girl, and started a family that became the joy of my life.

It’s been a journey worth preserving, protecting, and defending.

 

American Process: First Get In Shape

 

That’s me on the bottom right, and the color is fine.

I’d finished the last leg of the Hood To Coast Relay.

You don’t do distance running without the correct foundation, without the grind of training.

If you try, you will fail. But, if you somehow finish after starting with no fitness, you’ll feel pain like never before during the week after. Maybe two weeks.

In other words, be smart. Doing things without the proper preparation can be a disaster in the making.

I’m forty-nine in the group shot. So much has happened in the twenty years since.

Who am I kidding, so much has happened in my lifetime, a baby boomer lifetime.

And not just in politics, but since this is an election year . . .

 

My American process runs from championship wrestling at the district, state, and  junior national level. I was a district and state champ, third in the nation.

National service? Why, yes. I joined the Army at the end of the Vietnam War, 1974, and rose to the ranks of Private First Class.

Call it a low-rise.

I went to college on the G.I. Bill, got married, had kids who grew up, got married and have kids.

After twenty years of work in the state historical museum, I became a family caregiver in the Sandwich Generation.

I’ve written two huge blogs, boomerpdx and deegeesbb.wordpress.com.

So, as you may have surmised, I’m no spring chicken.

Neither firebrand, or wall flower, I believe in registering to vote, then voting for the American Process.

Here in the great state of Oregon, it goes like this:

 

Registration Deadline

A new registrant must submit their online registration by 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the 21st calendar day before an election to be eligible to vote in that election.​

Alternative to Registering Online

Instead of registering to vote online you can complete a Voter Registration form and return it to your county elections office.​

 

Do the math on the 21st calendar day before an election and register before October 15th.

Like an ill prepared long distance runner, an uninformed caregiver, or obvious bullshit artist, candidates either tell who they are or do their best to obfuscate.

Avoid the obfuscater who is confused about the peaceful transfer of power.

Vote for the grinder, like these two former presidents.

President Eisenhower and Kennedy had both gone through the grind of WWII.

After the greatest challenge the world has ever faced, join them in The American Process and turn out those who misunderstand history.

Let’s leave it there for the day. Some folks have a severe misunderstanding of history. 

What’s that supposed to mean? It’ll come to you. It’s a willful misunderstanding.

Register to vote, then do it.

Thank you for reading. Forward the link to others if it looks right to you.