Uncommon Ground [View all]

[H2O Man]

" We define family in many different ways, not just by blood but by people with whom we share a common ground and a common bond." -- Adrienne C. Moore


Sometimes, after watching the news, I try to watch some "true crime" shows, court hearings, and police interrogations to relax. I'm still thinking about politics as I watch them. One that I enjoy is Stephanie Harlowe's "Coffee and Crime." She discusses social issues in a way that her generation does, questioning why common sense steps towards a healthy society are not being taken?

Now, on a recent show, she discussed a case where a rape kit sat unexamined for about a year. Then she told of regions in this country where there are hundreds of these kits that just aren't tested, because of being short staffed and lack of lab resources. And I thought what a great opportunity it is for our party and candidates to say we want to fix that.

Let's put that on the table when it comes to funding the police. Really, compare our priorities versus the republicans'. More labs and more employees means improving the police forces ability to solve crime faster. It means more good jobs for people interested in science. Who could possibly oppose that?

The Trump cult is opposed to science. Things like DNA and its implications do not set right with christian nationalists. By no coincidence, the same group that wants to have state and federal laws that control a woman's right to control her own body. The type that would think it adequate id Trump claims he declassified documents in a dream.

I'm amazed by the science of DNA. I'll note that none of the three tests that my children and I have taken involved waiting a year to be done. If they can do it, I would think we as a society of families, by blood and otherwise, should expect police to be at least as good.

And I like hearing Mrs. Harlowe talking about how, if this country is going to heal, it has to come through families. That means families, of blood and/or bond. And no matter what the structure. That's something I hear from many people of Harlowe and Moore's generation. They understand the connections between economics, politics, and the changing definitions and structures of families.

Older forum members like myself are encouraged when we hear a tounger generation examining these things. For we did, too. In 1968 Gary Snyder's "Earth House Hold" focused on the same ideas of family structure, the economix structure, and social justice. I'm glad to hear this new generation applying to today's society.