All posts by Bob Morrison

Since retirement I've begun writing regular newspaper editorials and more recently created this blog. I'm a novice but have been a fascinated student of public policy for many years. I try to raise questions that have not yet been considered or to examine old questions from new perspectives. I have been 20+ years a Hoosier, 20+ years a Buckeye and now 20+ years a Tarheel, working as CEO of three different hospitals for 30 years, serving on numerous health care and non-profit Boards and government commissions along the way. Before working in health care I had brief experiences in manufacturing, sales, and services for the handicapped. With a BA in Psychology, an MBA, and a liberal arts background, I've become a bit of a futurist - taking the long view in considering public policy questions. I continue to enjoy discussion of alternative viewpoints and even change my mind now and then. I hope you will subscribe to the website and join the discussions!

WEAR THE PATRIOT’S MASK

How should we deal with people who make our national crisis worse by refusing to adopt effective safety practices?  Over six million Americans have been diagnosed with the Covid -19.  More than 180,000 have died.  Millions more have lost jobs and the ability to support themselves.  The national debt that we must repay will soon be more than the total value of everything the nation produces in a year for the first time since the end of WWII.

Our most effective weapons in a war against the virus are:

  1. Wear a mask in public places
  2. Maintain social distance.
  3. Don’t congregate in large groups.

We lack leadership and enforcement of those practices, especially at the national level, where our President routinely denies the facts and refuses to personally adopt safe practices.  As a result, we are among the hardest hit nations in the world.

Why do we passively accept anti-social behavior from people who endanger our families and livelihoods?  Safety practices can become behavior standards for our communities and our nation when enough of us speak up directly to those who misbehave.  That won’t be a pleasant task but it is not nearly as difficult as allowing a virus to rule our lives.

Some retail clerks and managers say they fear abusive behavior and threats by anti-maskers; and that is why they don’t enforce their own rules.  Anti-maskers are getting their way through noisy intimidation and bullying.  They are impeding our war effort and allowing the virus to linger; and they will continue until responsible citizens stand up to them.  I’ve seen a few folks publicly confront those who are not doing their part.  It is uncomfortable, but I am learning to do it too.  We are at war with a virus.  Those who do not follow safety practices endanger us all.  Their traitorous behavior is unacceptable.

The death toll, economic damage, inability to operate schools normally, and other consequences of not masking, not distancing, and allowing unsafe mass gatherings is a burden that good citizens should not have to bear.  The nations in the chart above are home to freedom loving people that are succeeding against the virus.  They all have leaders who are educating the public and pushing voluntary compliance. Many also have penalties for non-compliance. Germany,

A picture of presidential leadership – the vast majority of Donald Trump’s audience was unmasked on the White House lawn to hear him accept the Republican presidential nomination.

France, Australia, South Korea, Japan, UK, and Canada have all used fines or other penalties at times when voluntary compliance didn’t work.

It’s difficult to fathom why police and prosecutors are resistant to enforcement, when laws or emergency orders are in place.  One common explanation is lack of resources, but that doesn’t stand up to close examination.  The virus is the most dangerous and immediate threat to our public safety.  Consider that police do have resources to monitor speed limit violations by radar.  Some of that time could be reallocated to routine checks of masking compliance at high risk locations.  Masking compliance could also become part of routine patrols.  If someone calls to report a mask or distancing violation, it can be triaged in the same way as other calls.  A violent crime in progress is a high priority.  Taking an in-person report of a stolen lawn mower is a lower priority.  Police make triage decisions every day and they generally do it well.

Many Americans are masking, distancing and avoiding crowds because they have believed CDC advice, because they care for others and because it’s the right thing to do.  But now the Trump administration is manipulating information from CDC and other sources to sow doubt about scientific facts.  They are misleading rather than leading their loyalists.

Americans have been watching a microscopic virus take away our schools, churches, businesses, friends and families.  The non-performance of our government at the national and local level leaves the work to individuals and private groups.  That’s why we need to have plain-talk conversations with anyone who doesn’t mask or distance; and refuse to passively accept the deaths and damage that they are causing.  Patriotic Americans do not sit idle while the nation is losing a war.  We’re running out of time and resources to fight the virus.  Think about it.  How will you help?

Click Here to see current world wide virus statistics

FIXING OUR FAILURES

originally published 1/30/2019

I assumed that the envelope from Xavier University would contain a request for donations but found instead a letter from the University’s President, Michael Graham, S. J.  It contained his seemingly heartfelt report and plan of action to deal with continued “…revelations of clerical sexual abuse of minors and others and…the equally scandalous actions of Church officials to conceal these always sinful and often criminal activities.” Continue reading FIXING OUR FAILURES

Adlai Stevenson for President

originally published 1/19/2019

2019 has barely begun, but the first candidates for our 2020 Presidential election are already forming teams and making themselves heard around the nation.  While considering how to write about that, I came across quotations from Adlai Stevenson, a very thoughtful candidate that we didn’t elect.  Running as a Democrat, he lost twice to President Eisenhower, in 1952 and 1956.  Here are some of his thoughts.  (Women reading this, please forgive his exclusive use of masculine pronouns.  It was the manner of speech at the time.) Continue reading Adlai Stevenson for President

THE WALL IS INSIGNIFICANT

originally published 1/16/2019

Benjamin Franklin supposedly described our new form of government to a citizen as “a republic, if you can keep it”.  A republic is a sovereign nation where power resides in elected individuals representing citizens, and where government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law.  The debate over whether to build a wall along our border with Mexico is no longer about the wall.  It is about whether we are still a republic. Continue reading THE WALL IS INSIGNIFICANT

A SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHRISTMAS GIFT

On December 12, 2018 our nation received an unexpected gift, a “Report On Slavery And Racism In The History Of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary”.  It was commissioned and published by the Seminary itself, not a result of someone else’s investigation.  It seems honest, thorough and unblinking as it describes what was done, by whom and why.

CLICK HERE to read the full report

CLICK HERE to read or hear Dr Martin Luther King’s 1961 address to the Seminary students and faculty Continue reading A SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHRISTMAS GIFT

NO TAXES FOR CONFEDERATE MYTHS

“This glorification of States Rights Doctrine—the right of secession, and the honoring of men who represented that cause, fosters in the Republic, the spirit of Rebellion and will ultimately result in the handing down to generations unborn a legacy of t Continue reading NO TAXES FOR CONFEDERATE MYTHS

FUNDING SOCIAL SECURITY

It’s time for honest consideration of the problems facing Social Security but first, the good news.  The Social Security Trust Fund, from which benefits are paid, has a balance of $2.9 trillion.  The money that was deducted from our paychecks and the matching contributions from our employers built that bala Continue reading FUNDING SOCIAL SECURITY

You don’t know what you’ve got…

“You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” The old adage came to mind as I thought about my local newspaper – the one that’s been printing my columns for several years. It reports on local government, sports, arts, births, deaths, achievements, crimes, churches and the myriad of other things that make up our daily lives. People still clip and deliver pictures of friends because it’s something important when your child’s picture is in the paper. Continue reading You don’t know what you’ve got…

WILL YOU BE FIRED?

“Oh people, look around you.  The signs are everywhere.  You’ve left it for somebody other than you to be the one to care.”  Jackson Brown wrote those lyrics to “Rock me on the water” (click to hear Keb Mo sing it) about 50 years ago.  Today his words seem to haunt our future as much as they did our past.

There are more than 7.5 billion of us humans and our numbers continue to grow.  Who cares about the unintended consequences of our collective actions?  Our individual choices about economics, environment, health and other questions seem to be our personal business until we consider their collective effect. Continue reading WILL YOU BE FIRED?

LET’S CONTINUE ARGUING

It was on July 4, 1776 that representatives of the people of every colony unanimously announced themselves as member states that would form a new nation.   Before there was a constitution or a president, there was our Declaration of Independence.

In just one eloquent sentence that declaration laid the philosophical foundation for the United States of America, its Constitution, laws and traditions.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  That sentence provides glimpses of the shining city on the hill that Americans aspire to build.  As each generation adds to the city, there are debates and battles over laws, the role of government and our vision for the future. Continue reading LET’S CONTINUE ARGUING