Having a garden party without all the political balderdash in D.C.

"I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow."

                                  — David Hobson

AUBURN — My garden is growing as fast as the furor over the president’s fusillade of pathetic and juvenile tweets.

If you are looking for fireworks on this Fourth of July, look no farther than our nation’s capital.

Nonsense in the White House thrives and my plants are also flourishing thanks to tender loving care, which is absent in Washington D.C.

There is little evidence of compassion from our leaders, but here on the open range in Maine, we treat our garden like we treat other human beings — with love and devotion.

But you can’t fix stupidity in the nation’s capital, where incessant backbiting and barbs hang over our nation, sparking hate and rage across the country.

Enough about politicians who can’t play well with others and refuse to work for the greater good. There is a garden to tend to in spite of our capital that is hopelessly awash in anger and ineptness. 

Garden of delight

Barring a tornado, tsunami or an errant tweet, my flower and vegetable gardens are looking sturdy and I have seen a bloom or two, giving me confidence in this season’s endeavor.

My potato plants appear to be taking performance-enhancing drugs without my knowledge. This is the first time I have planted to potatoes because my wife wanted fresh taters. I quickly agreed to preserve peace and prosperity in the Blasi household. Of course, I don’t like sleeping on the couch, either.

The zucchini and summer squash plants are on a mission, but I confess that I had to use a touch of pesticide to combat aphids and cucumber bugs to keep those vegetables healthy. The peppers, always late bloomers, are getting there and that could be said for my eggplants. Lettuce and spinach grown from seed are looking real good, especially with some Newman’s Own salad dressing smeared all over those leafy greens.

My yard also supplies me with fresh apples, blueberries and pears.

While we wait for our leaders to do their jobs, I will be out in the garden tending to my flock of fantastic plants, but the bilious politicians, who can’t reach a compromise or stop berating each over the Internet, won’t be on the receiving end of fresh vegetables from me.

Sweet birds of youth

Mourning doves have no fear. 

They are handsome pigeons that hum their laments mornings and evenings. When they are startled, they fly away with a distinct whistling sound.

They waddle underneath my bird feeder picking up scraps. They often travel in pairs and are not intimidated by human beings, especially this 6-foot-3, 300-pound man who marvels at creatures great and small.

They just give me a glance and keep on pecking at the ground.

I needed some air and stepped out in the front yard to seat myself at an outdoor table on a muggy July night. I looked down for a moment and there were two young mourning doves not startled in the least. They came within two feet of me and just sat there looking at me. I closed my eyes, nodded off in my lawn chair and they just rested with me.

Amazing.

We have a variety of birds that visit the front yard. A row of thick hedges gives them cover. 

I sat there for 40 minutes as the pair of birds and I stared at each other.

Some people say mourning doves represent death. I say that is a bunch of crap from superstitious people who should know better.

They are cute, cuddly, and I enjoy their sweet, sad song. They are always welcomed in my yard.

Anyway, happy birthday, America. As an optimist, I know we will weather poor leadership and reaffirm our resilience on this holiday.

Heading to the garden to seek refuge from the White House's nonsense

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul." 

 — Alfred Austin—

AUBURN — As I watch an administration implode in Washington, D.C., as well as spread its drivel via Twitter, I retreat to my backyard, where well-tended gardens serve as my sanctuary from an embattled White House that revels in the spectacle of self-inflicted mayhem — which also brings joy to nations trying to undermine America.

I am hoping my garden and our constitution will withstand the forces of nature and a presidency clearly in disarray.

This administration conjures up never-ending diatribes from a leadership that feeds on its own hostility. This virus of indifference that comes from top has infected the country. Our leaders are acting like bar-room brawlers and our citizens’ intolerance to newcomers sometimes ends in violence.

I believe my vegetable garden and that living document we hold so dear to us will weather anything nature or misguided politicians can throw at us this summer.

According to numerous articles, a backyard loaded with trees, flowers and vegetables can reduce stress immediately. A long hike in the woods also has the same effect on the human body.

Tell me something I don't know!

The bonus here is you can tune out American politics that features hollering, boasting and narcissism. Read any controversial story online and observe vicious trolls rise up like an angry mob and spew their hatred in a long scroll of abhorrence.

Talk about garden therapy is not nonsense or FAKE news. Flowers and fresh vegetables are like aspirins to relieve pain. Nature’s splendid colors whittle away the day’s stress.

Trust me on this one.

According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA.com): 

“Horticultural therapy is a time-proven practice. The therapeutic benefits of garden environments have been documented since ancient times. In the 19th century, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and recognized as the "Father of American Psychiatry," was first to document the positive effect working in the garden had on individuals with mental illness.

“Horticultural therapy techniques are employed to assist participants to learn new skills or regain those that are lost. Horticultural therapy helps improve memory, cognitive abilities, task initiation, language skills, and socialization. In physical rehabilitation, horticultural therapy can help strengthen muscles and improve coordination, balance, and endurance. In vocational horticultural therapy settings, people learn to work independently, problem solve, and follow directions.”

Planting vegetable and flower gardens keeps me balanced, inspires me and provides an excellent workout in the warm June sun.

I view my gardens and yard like naturalist John Muir, who believed forests and other wild places on earth nurture the soul. 

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul,” Muir said. “Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

Perhaps, the current administration should listen to Muir’s prudent words.

Muir, a spiritual man, believed the forest was his cathedral   — a place to contemplate and pray.

My yard and the Maine’s numerous hiking trails give me natural a lift without taking pills to confront life. Gardening is also my antidote to my stress. When I tend to my yard, I put the radio on and listen to the Red Sox or Mozart in the summer sun. In the woods, I have my camera with me as I huff and puff up a gravel trail where nature’s senses sooth me.

Whether I am toiling in the yard or briskly climbing up Mt. Apatite in Auburn, I enjoy the exertion, the chance to sink my hands into the rich, black earth of my garden and mingle with nature on its own breathtaking terms.

I will continue to seek out nature’s salubrious benefits in my yard as the insanity, spitefulness and shabbines in the nation’s capitol peeks.

Washington gives us another reason to shake our heads in despair

“You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't mean just whether a politician is scientifically literate, but people who vote politicians into office." 

Neil deGrasse Tyson 

Editor’s note: I wrote this letter in response to Idaho U.S. representative Raul Labrador’s absurd comment about health care. Yes, I am a registered democrat who often disagrees with the Republican’s agenda, but when you make a comment like this, no matter what party you are from, it demeans all voters and whittles away our trust in our leaders. Please, no acerbic comments. Save it for the Internet trolls who post their anger on news organizations' websites.

Representative Raul Labrador did you understand the repercussions of your callous remark when you uttered "Nobody dies because they don't have access to health care?”

I am shocked by your arrogance and how uninformed you are about the health-care issue.

Nearly everyday I am embarrassed by unenlightened congressmen or presidents who have NO clear understanding of issues — or American history for that matter. I guess, sir, you are an active member in that exclusive club, which contributes to our disillusionment of our leaders.

Let me help you, Mr. Labrador, especially since you clearly don’t understand the health-care issue in this nation.

According to Time magazine: “A 2009 study published in the American Journal of Public Health before Obamacare became law said that 45,000 deaths in the U.S. were linked to a lack of health insurance.” Congressman, people who have health insurance live longer and are treated with respect in any emergency room.

That is a fact, Sir!

This is not fake news even though the current administration has made it a priority to discredit dedicated journalists.

The only thing that is really fake is the GOP’s agenda. Anyway, thank you for solidifying my loyalty to the Democratic Party.

But then again I shouldn’t be surprised when a member of the GOP makes another insulting and inaccurate statement. Absurd, inaccurate and hateful comments have become epidemic from the right side of political spectrum, and much of it starts from the top at the White House.

Sincerely,

Tony Blasi

When narcissism and nonsense goes awry in American politics

"The battle in American politics used to be for the middle. Now, it's all about the building and the intensity of support on the far left and far right wings of both parties. And we have forgotten about the people here in the middle. 

— Hamilton Jordan

AUBURN — Running for president shouldn’t be looked upon as a good gig.

This isn’t a Vegas act or an opportunity to open for the Rolling Stones at Gillette Stadium.

The job isn’t for celebrities who think it would be real cool to add United States president to their resumes.

The leading presidential candidate for the Republican Party, who has spent the last year alienating and dividing the country with his barbs and hollow promises, seems to think so.

Becoming president of the United States requires brains, sometimes brawn, charisma and certainly diplomacy. You are responsible for the greater good and the face of a nation that has a lot of say in the world.

Donald Trump lacks all of those prerequisites to become the leader of the free world, and he has proven this time and time again whenever he opens his loud mouth and spews nonsense. His repulsive speeches sound like guys trading stories about their sexual conquests in a men’s locker room.

But what troubles me more than Trump’s inane comments is the way he treats the office of the president — as if it is like putting down money on a horse at a crowded race track.

His us-versus-them rantings remind us of history’s despots who trigger wars and decades of suffering around the globe.

Sane people with half a brain believe Donald Trump is a nuisance who should stick to making money or filing bankruptcy to stroke and massage his narcissism.

He has become the master of doublespeak — jargon that is used by politicians can’t give the public a straight answer. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, doublespeak means: “Language that can be understood in more than one way and that is used to trick or deceive people.”

Educated voters, and you don’t have to be erudite to understand this nation’s political process, must shake their heads when they hear Trump’s endless empty-promises and insults that have enraged citizens at home and abroad.

He is banned in England for his balderdash. He has become a target of every comedian who can't wait to poke fun at a candidate who has ridiculed women and offered a half-assed excuse when a former Grand Wizard of the of Ku Klux Klan endorsed the GOP frontrunner for president.

He speaks of building a wall to prevent illegal immigrants from ruining this nation. I think our own leaders have done an impressive job of screwing up the country without the help of honest people fleeing war and poverty to build a better life — here.

But I agree we should at least build a barbed-wire fence — around the White House to keep Trump out.

He keeps touting that he alone will make America great again, and yet his misled minions suck up his ridiculous catch phrases like a keg of cheap beer.

Obviously, he could use a lesson on how our Constitution functions. Remember, Donald, this is a democracy, not totalitarianism or a dictatorship, and all the power is not given to one man to run the show in the United States.

We can thank our Founding Fathers for this masterpiece.

I still think America is great but is beset by many problems that other nations are also facing in the modern world.

Yet, he says what he wants, but nearly everything he says makes no sense, but it does make for a cheap sound bites.

I have trouble with people who hate the government. Our constitution was the best thing written since the Magna Carter. If you dislike many of our leaders and find them unworthy to hold high office, then vote them out.  The government isn’t the culprit here.

We are forgetting one thing. These guys and gals work for us. If you feel they haven’t done the job, vote them out, but please refrain from blaming the “government.”

It is our fault if we vote for shysters, crackpots and narcissists whose only allegiance is to themselves and filling their wallets.

If you want to make America great again, vote damn it — and become informed and get involved!  Don’t count on one man or a political party to look out for your best interests.

If our founding fathers could witness this nation’s political process in this century, Jefferson, Hamilton and Franklin would raise another Continental Army and tell the militias to “get their  muskets out.”

Do you really think the loony from Alaska or Maine Gov. Paul LeDisengage are really on your side? I know Donald Trump and his gang of brigands are not the answer.

If you are sold on their empty rhetoric and negative views of your own constituents, then cast your vote for your cat, write in somebody, but don’t go dissing the Constitution.

After all, it really is up to “We The People.” Hold that thought the next time you fill in your ballot.

Mouths will runneth over in politics

"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself."

 — Mark Twain

We’ve dumbed down television, made reading a good book a Herculean task, and the Internet has become a hodgepodge of the inane and a home for narcissi.

So why not continue to make a farce out of the next presidential election where a lengthy roll call of pathetic candidates offer empty promises to voters who have little interest in their own future.

Like all kids who are taught that the United States presidency is where men of honor and intellect run for office for the greater good, I believed that the best and brightest, with the highest regard for their fellow man, belonged in the Oval Office.

But any voter, who has common sense has seen the current crop of self-righteous, presidential wannabes, is probably thinking about voting for their cat or staying at home on election day to watch a reruns of “Seinfeld.”

The Grand Old Party is loaded with paranoid characters who rant and rave about illegal immigrants, the elderly (because they have lived too long), global warming lies and their greatest nemesis — the government — also known as the Evil Empire to many republicans.

Many of them resemble the “Seinfeld” character “Crazy Joe Devola.”

Answer me this!

Why do candidates run for election even though they hate our government? They see evil everywhere in Washington D.C. They tell us our greatest fear is the establishment and believe it is ruining our lives. And yet, they have no problem making money working within the government.

Funny how that works.

So why do they want be government employee? Of course, the obvious answer is to collect a big paycheck, endless benefits, and satisfy their ego.

They are masters of doublespeak — deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous, or obscure language. That’s the textbook definition of political language that is used as ammunition by career politicians who can’t possible provide a voter with reasonable answers to today’s complicated problems.

Right now, and I am not naming names, but there is a GOP contender who wants to bomb oil wells to put an end to endless terrorism emanating from the Middle East.

Does this uniformed presidential candidate understand the environmental consequences of blowing up oil wells, which would make Americans wince when petroleum prices rise like Mount Everest?

And while he spews blanket statements about our dismal future and evil, illegal immigrants, hoping to frighten Americans into voting for him, there are others like him who tout their “my country, right or wrong” attitude.

I cringe when I hear someone say, “I am voting for him because he speaks his mind.”

What the hell does that mean, anyway?

To me, it is another candidate spewing outlandish remarks to alienate a constituency already divided by party lines. Making rude comments pulls a nation apart. There are millions of supporters clapping their hands for a candidate who shouldn’t be running for the school board, never mind the White House.

I will never understand why half the middle class votes against its best interests when they cast their ballots for the GOP.

The guy, who wants to carpet bomb oil wells, jail illegal immigrants and switch Denali (the high one) back to Mount McKinley if he is elected president, just got a ringing endorsement from a former vice presidential contender from Alaska.

That should tell you something about the lowest common denominator in American politics. He should have asked Moe, Larry, Shemp or Curley to join his political campaign.

By the way, the top GOP contender, who speaks his warped mind, just went with the flow when he promised to support the Republican party.

So much for being a maverick in politics. In the end, they all go with the flow and a nation suffers thanks to a lack of leadership and vision.

Remember that when you vote!

The day the earth stood still

AUBURN — Anthony was occupied with his Hot Wheels cars and "Barney" was driving me batty when I flipped the channel to NBC to check on the world on a warm Tuesday morning.

The image that appeared on my TV startled me. There was a gapping hole in one of the Twin Towers in New York City. I began hearing about a plane smashing into the tower at 8:46 a.m. The tower was billowing with smoke and obscuring the top of the building. I also learned people were trapped on the top floors. I knew a small plane could have not inflicted a wide blast in this super structure. There was no doubt an airliner had plowed into the building at great velocity.

I sat up on the couch and was thankful Anthony paid no attention to the television as he drove his cars along the coffee table littered with toys. My wife, Terri, was teaching at school. 

I could see flames leaping out of the punctured tower. I wondered how long the building would stand up to the blazing heat before it collapsed. People were leaping from the building to escape the flames and smoke. I realized rescuing these poor souls was impossible due to the damage and thick smoke that covered the top of the tower.

Newscaster Katie Couric was trying ascertain what was going on when I saw Flight 175 out Logan Airport in Boston appear in the background as Couric was speaking and slam into the South Tower at 9:02 a.m. 

A week later I discoveed that Peter Morgan Goodrich, a Bates College graduate and All-American track star was on Flight 175.

And it was only then that I realized I had witnessed his murder.

I wrote three stories about this fine young man and spoke with his extraordinary parents over the course of a decade. Goodrich's mother, Sally, passed away in December of 2010. She was a remarkable woman who established a foundation in his name.

Both towers were burning when I reached for the phone to call my mother in Massachusetts. My dad was still teaching school. We spoke for a few moments when I decided to phone my sister, Roxanne, who was rushing her husband to a hospital because of his bad back.

I called my mom again, but dialed the wrong number. For the next five minutes, I was talking to a stranger about the attacks in New York City. We didn't know each other or exchange names, but for those five minutes, two strangers comforted each other while the Big Apple burned and became the epicenter of terrorist attacks.

For the next hour, I kept Anthony busy while I kept one an eye on the television. I couldn't leave the room. New York City was a smoldering mess and reports were surfacing that the Pentagon was also rammed by an airliner at 9:37 a.m., and another plane was heading toward the White House. But thanks to the heroic efforts of Flight 93 passengers, who rushed the cockpit, the plane nosedived in Shanksville, Penn. at 10:03 and never reached its intended target.

I knew it wouldn't be long before both towers crumbled to the ground. I thought about those helpless souls stranded on the top floors, knowing that rescues would never come. I went over and hugged my son tight. I was feeling numb from the turmoil that was spreading across the nation.

At 9:59, the South Tower shattered and roared as it fell to the ground. I watched fleeing bystanders running down narrow streets as huge clouds of dust engulfed people. Nearly a half hour later, the other tower collapsed, sending another whirlwind of dirt that turned day into night. Office papers littered the streets as bystanders encased in gray dust coughed and cried.

I looked at my five-year-old who figured out that something awful happened on September 11, 2001. He drew a picture at preschool the next day depicting one of the towers crashing to earth. I still have the drawing.

I scooped him up and decided to grab a slice a pizza somewhere and stay away from the television set. We walked into a pizza joint and quietly sat down. People ate in silence. It was the quietest meal I have ever eaten in my life.

My wife finally got home and I called the newspaper to see if they wanted me in the newsroom early. Reporters and editors had already put out an extra edition on the streets around 2 p.m.

The sports department had a light night. We put our section together early and left. The editorial staff in news would have a long night. 

I went home and turned on the television. All three major networks were televising the rescue efforts and would continue broadcasting reports for the next five days, interrupting regular programming. The reports were grim. I couldn't sleep because of the attacks. I wondered what the future held for our nation and its children like my son.

 It has been 10 years since the Twin Towers plummeted to the ground. Along the way, the United States has fought three separate conflicts in the Middle East and is still wallowing in a Depression, but the memories off 9/11 never fade.

The next day at preschool I talked with frightened parents as we crowded into the hallway. I hugged Anthony one more time in the classroom before getting into my car. The calamity of Tuesday's attacks flooded every radio station on the dial. I thought about the nearly 3,000 victims scattered across New York City, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Penn.

The Associated Press has been moving the list of victims over the wire in small takes. New stories have surfaced on this 10-year anniversary of 9/11. The Internet is saturated with video footage of the attacks.

The controversy and finger-pointing goes on, construction at Ground Zero continues, and conflicts in the Middle East rage without resolution. And now, New York City and Washington D.C. is on full alert and bracing for a terrorist attack.

But it doesn't take an anniversary to remind me of what we all lost on that warm Tuesday morning.

A political party of none

  

Several days ago, members of the United States Congress, for some absurd reason, spent an hour and a half on the taxpayers' dime reading aloud the U.S. Constitution, and they screwed that up, too.

According to the Associated Press, our illustrious leadership omitted key paragraphs when they discovered two pages were stuck together, and "original sections that later were amended, including references to slaves, were left out of the recital."

In that hour and half, these guys should have been discussing solutions to joblessness, the wars in the Middle East, the housing debacle and the Great Equalizer - education. But both political parties decided to one-up themselves by brandishing their patriotism on the house floor instead of conducting the people's business and resuscitating a government buried in debt.

Thanks for the reading lesson, guys. It is comforting to know members of Congress can still sound out the words and have their priorities straight. This demonstration of political showmanship also indicated that perhaps Congress wasn't so sure what the Constitution contained until they read this unique document aloud.

Congress's needless reciting of the Constitution is a perfect example of why George Washington, our first president, and one of those rare Commanders in Chief with common sense, warned his countrymen about the pitfalls of political parties in his 1796 farewell address to the nation.

Just listen to Washington's priceless words that still hold water today:

"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty."

Mr. Washington's admonitions concerning political parties are not unfounded. Just take a look at the buffoonery that transpires in the hallowed halls of the nation's capitol on a daily basis. We have been mired in a recession that has blindsided the middle class and elevated the ranks of the poor since 2007. This is the nation that put the plane in the air, stopped Hitler cold, and made other countries envious of our industrial might for decades. But for the moment, corporate shills, who occupy those seats in Congress, look the other way as American companies create middle classes abroad, while a majority of U.S. citizens face a decline in their standard of living in a nation that was once considered the land of opportunity.

It should make us all shudder with frustration when politicians show more loyalty to their parties than to their constituency. We elected them to Congress and they should be beholden to us, not to a bunch of money-grubbing lobbyists or the RNC (Republican National Committee) and DNC (Democratic National Committee). 

Our leaders should be focused on the Greater Good. But apparently politicians enjoy battling back and forth over their party ideologies while the nation is caught in financial quicksand. Congress's first and foremost concern is the American people. Some where along the way, our leaders have forgotten the meaning of the preamble's opening words "We the people."

"Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."

Washington was obviously ahead of his time when he stated that political parties "open the doors to foreign influence and corruption." Just take a hard look what is going on now around the planet. Thanks to this political in-fighting, nothing gets done or well-meaning bills are derailed for the sake of opposition by one party. We all suffer the consequences when well-educated man can't find common ground even though this nation's survival might be at stake.

We are all in dire need of a reality check.

So what are the options for the American voter who just lost a job and a house? Abandon both parties? That is certainly tempting when it comes to "who cares" is running for office.

Perhaps, it will require an independent candidate with no ties to any one ideology or party and will put citizens first and ignore the temptations of special interest money. This is truly a great nation born from a rebellion against tyranny and matured into a world power, but it up to us - informed voters - to elect responsible leaders who have credibility and the ability to compromise and bring about positive change in a country under financial duress and fighting terrorism throughout the globe.