A Gigantic Step Backwards: Trump Bans Transsexuals from the Military on the Anniversary of Truman’s Desegregation of the Armed Forces

The Inglorius Padre Steve's World

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

Russian dissident Gary Kasparov said this on Twitter yesterday shortly after President Trump announced on the same platform that Transsexuals, even those currently serving honorably would not be allowed to serve in the military. Kasparov noted:

“The autocrat always requires enemies to protect his base from. If real enemies don’t exist, they will be created. Minorities preferred.”

Yesterday I was debating whether to write about President Harry Truman’s courageous decision sixty-nine years ago yesterday to desegregate the U.S. Military. I didn’t because first I have written about it before and I couldn’t come to a decision on how I wanted to approach it. So I wrote an article combining baseball that the principle of interiorizing public rules, norms, traditions, and behaviors that are necessary for our Republic to survive.

But this morning when I saw the series of three Trump tweets about excluding transsexuals from…

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Exclusion From Restrooms And The Rockford Air Show

Rockford, Illinois has an airport.

It’s one of those airports where planes fly people for vacations, such as Apple vacations.  In other words, you can’t book a flight to New York or Texas or Atlanta to visit with family, attend funerals — stuff like that.

The airport used to have an air show each year.  The last air show was in 2015.

My son, who served in the United States Air Force, loves jets.  At the age of 6, he sat in a pilot’s seat and fell in love.  He probably loves a bicycle if it could fly.  When he was home in 2010, we attended the Air Show.

The event is one where you bring your own camping chair.  That is pretty common in Rockford.  Our entire family has folding camping chairs with their own carrying bags that you can sling over your shoulder.  We used to take them to On the Waterfront, a musical, eating event, but that too was cancelled after 2012.

Rockford organizers of events seem to be out of touch with the interests of its citizens.  For example, I remember attending On The Waterfront one year.  The Spinners performed, and a man swaying and clapping next to me, who was dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt said, “Why can’t we hear more music like this around here?”

The next night, The Vanilla Fudge performed, and a woman doing the dance “the jerk” said it was the best $8 concert she ever attended. (I was doing the Boogaloo.)

Although Rockford is located in Northwestern Illinois, the music that overwhelms the airways, in bars, and even for karaoke, is Country-Western. On The Waterfront brought in some big names for Country and Rock artists, but soon abandoned R&B and artists of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

The Air Show was different.  There was food and souvenirs, but the best part were the jets – unless you had to use the restroom.