Different Slants

by Robert M. Katzman ©March 21, 2019

A nice person I know, Jewish like me, posted a reflection that America may not be ready to elect a gay person to be president. 

The basic idea expressed was that South Bend, Indiana’s Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s time was not “now” no matter how qualified he may be. I am not neutral and admire him, so I wrote this:

(I know others may not agree with me, but speaking up is why people came here in the first place. You are legally entitled NOT to agree with me in America or anyone else, but in a civilized way)

This country wasn’t “ready” for the revolution in 1776, either, and a third of the colonists were against it. Many fled to Canada. I know that long before that date, the Native Americans weren’t ready for the English.

There were laws passed over time to keep out the Chinese and later Southern Europeans and definitely people from our common Jewish heritage. America still, evidently, isn’t ready for us. 

No matter what we collectively accomplished and add to this country, certainly the other immigrants I referred to above–and women as a group, who it appears to me that America will never find the last damn state to ratify the ERA Amendment, because America is not “ready” for: 
Mothers… 
Sisters… 
Wives…
Daughters…

Someone is always deciding what America is or isn’t ready for.

I’m for women as equals. I’m for equal rights for every variation of gay people, or the approximate 35 million of them who exist here now. I think Pete Buttigieg is a smart fascinating person with a strong electable personality, a wonderful resume and real charisma. 

I don’t give a damn what his sexual preferences are, or need to know. We know too much about what our current president’s attitude is toward woman and what he says he knows he can do with any women, because he was…a star. 

Based on the last election, I guess America was ready for Trump and where he thinks it’s ok to grab a woman. Let him try that with MY three daughters. 

Jews in this country are not secure, are less than 2% of the population, and ought never to decide whom this country is ready to accept in any role. Most of us now living in this country who are Jews are the descendants of refugees. 

Many know what happened to the 900 men, women and children escaping Nazi Germany on the St Louis Ship whom the American government decided it wasn’t ready for in 1939, two years before World War Two. That doomed ship filled with civilians found no safe berth anywhere else, went back to Germany and most of them were killed.

I think most people came to this country for a chance to be happy and safe. If the next president was a black, gay, disabled, atheist, left-handed Assyrian woman, all that would matter to me is whether she had the American people’s and this Country’s best interests in her heart and actions. 

I don’t like to write about politics because people can be crazy. But I do have the opinion that Jews, of all people, should never seek to limit the rights and ambitions of other vulnerable people in this country and elsewhere. 

Or who the hell are we? Chosen for what, exactly?

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Publishing News! 

Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart  and Vol. Two: Fighting Words

Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.

Please visit my new website: https://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.

Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
I will get your books to you within ten days.
Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:

Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.

Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998                                                                                                                    (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM

Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping

For: (1)$3.95; (2)$5.95; (3)$7.95; (4)$8.95 (5)$9.95;(6) $10.95

(7) $11.95; (8) $12.95; (9)$13.95 (10)$15.95 (15)$19.95

Shipping by air to most of Europe, due to the weight of my books is $99.00

I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools should call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.

My Fighting Words Publishing Co. four original books, published between 2004 and 2007 are now out-of-print. I still have some left and will periodically offer them for sale on my new website.  My hour-long story reading at WGTD 91.1 NPR Kenosha, Wis is now a podcast. The interview and story can be heard here: 

Speaking of Our Words – June 30th, 2017 With special guest star and featured writer Bob Katzman. Bob reads his memoir, “Audrey, Pink Bunny Slippers, Her Cat and the God’s Eye” and talks about his w…   Your comments are welcome, below, and please tell others I can be found here as a writer. I can also be hired as a speaker for organizations, etc, both here and in Europe. Seeking an agent.robertmkatzman@gmail.com Poet & Storyteller for hire for organizations, schools or private events   www.DifferentSlants.com to view recent and older examples of my work

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Preview YouTube video Speaking of Our Words – June 30th, 2017