THE BOOKS AND THE BUDGET!

Several times lately, I've tried unsuccessfully to post my thoughts about some sad events - the anniversary of 9-11 and the deaths of Edward Kennedy and Eunice Shriver. I found I couldn't do more than try to process these inevitable human experiences: aging, death, and, in the case of 9-11, cruel violence. Today, my continued study of Vought and Dallas has led to reading about the tragic Kennedy assasination of 1963. More violence. More loss.
Like most people, I have deep feelings about our country and leaders I've grown to admire and depend on for answers; and deep sadness for victims of terrorism and their families, for all of us who had our world shaken on 9-11, as well as Nov 22.
A regular American with no special knowledge of government; I have to operate on observation and intuition about how the world works. I know it's very important for people to trust government and to believe that the best, brightest, and most honest have answered the call to government service. Eunice Shriver, visionary citizen and volunteer, was that kind of champion. Ted Kennedy, privileged and notably rehabilitated in later life, labored tirelessly for the working man and woman (that's most of us...plus our kids) and won my genuine respect. His strong heart for health care beats today, just as Eunice's sustains Special Olympics.
But the death of JFK here in Dallas is still the question of my life (at least in terms of historical events). Reading about Dallas in the
1960s, I see and remember a child-centered, somewhat affluent place that felt non-threatening at the time, but was actually quite a right-wing, military aircraft-producing town. I read that one of the owners of Vought Aircraft/LTV (alongside Mountain Creek Lake in Grand Prairie) owned the Dallas School Book Depository where Oswald allegedly fired at JFK, and that owner had a strong connection to the Civil Air Patrol in New Orleans, which was tied to activities in Cuba. In the 60s, other local aircraft companies, as well as Vought, were temporarily hurting financially - from losing billions in military contracts to JFK-cutbacks; then after JFK was killed, the contracts came rolling in again-for Viet Nam. President Johnson had a new attitude toward the military, and had many friends highly-positioned in key military endeavors; thus, Texas profited heavily from war then, as it does now.
When I began to study Mountain Creek Lake two years ago, I had no idea that I would come to view it as a toxic memorial to war and greed. But, that's sadly what this "lake" is; and just like I'm angry about JFK's ambush while he was deciding about ending the Viet Nam War, I'm angry that the US military and its contractors have made billions in the Mountain Creek Lake area, but never fully cleaned up their 50 years+ of poison.
Yes, the military and its contractors kept us and themselves free - free to keep making money while polluting America! But does that mean they can ruin water and the structures that hold water underground? Wouldn't you think a percentage of vast manufacturing profits could go to lake restoration?
Is it right that a rich man's toilet is a poorer man's lake, his walking and bike trail environment, and the huge ecosystem across from his church or school? Is it right that some must draw ammonia and PCBs into their lungs because of others' improper disposal habits? Does the government ever think in terms of "fair"?
The people who killed Kennedy killed my faith in our government to do the right thing; and taught me that "patriotism" can be a synonym for getting military contracts for a politician's district. Further, I've observed that we wrap our patriotic plans, plots, and promises in the flag - our ballot boxes, our bomber jets and nuclear subs, our foreign oil deals, the dead bodies of our soldiers, the coffin of our shattered President.
Today, one thing our precious flag means to me is my right to say... "Get the aircraft industy's chemicals and radioactive waste out of Oak Cliff's Mountain Creek Lake! Get it out now ...or may a Congressional investigation get ahold of the aircraft industry's accounting ledgers and the military budget!" If I were in Congress, I would not sign off on another dollar of military spending until I saw fulfilled obligations to our communities in stewardship of land, water, and air. Sometimes, like Eunice Kennedy, you change the world by being tenacious, but first-by being and doing right.