DennisMansfield.com

Oh, Butch, put an end to this....please!

2009-07-15T22:17:03-06:00

I enjoy Butch Otter as a friend. He was also an outstanding US Congressman... and, from me, that might just mean a lot to those who have "ears to hear"....

Butch Otter was roundly supported for Governor by many, many Idaho folks. As urbane and educated as his opponent, Jerry Brady, was in the election of 2006...Butch was equally "down home". Idaho voted Otter.

So, now the election of 2010 is soon (already?) upon us.

The Governor's seat is up for grabs...(hmmm, odd choice of words). And who will be chosen?

Yawnnn....let's see, the budding cast of characters just grew by a healthy political ego...Sharon Ullman. The existing political gene-pool is equally interesting...very Idaho GOP Primary-ish...but kinda weird, don't you think? Kinda like politico-zombies walking the precincts of our minds....

Somebody smells the blood of "more brains", I suppose...but could it be fake blood? C'mon, Butch is Butch. He's gonna "shotgun" whoever gets in his way...unless it's someone REAL ( and un-zombie-esque)...and unless people tire quickly of the Gov....and do you really think that THAT is possible?

Time will tell, but just think what could happen if enough full-blooded (and non-zombie) conservatives back away from him ....and get behind someone of equal political strength and substance.

Well, it won't be anyone from the current cast of political-blood-drained-zombies, that's for sure.

So, who might it be?

I have a few guesses.....Anyone interested in hearing about them? Well, maybe I will keep it to myself....maybe.

Oh, Butch, put an end to this and either throw that famous cowboy hat into the ring or hang it up on the hat rack...please!

By doing that, we'd all have a chance to avoid the attack of the zombie politicians.

Den

Happy Birthday to my son, Nate.

2009-07-14T00:33:29-06:00

Today, July 14th, is the 28th celebration of my son, Nate's birth. In 1981 my bride and I were honored to become the parents of one of the cutest little guys that God could have made.

Much has been made of Nate's later teen and young adult years and the struggles he faced. His death, just 4 months ago, has left a hole in my family's heart that can only be patched in Heaven. And though we look forward to our reunion, at that future time, I'd like to take just a minute to tell you about the boy I knew and loved, from the past. After all, it's a dad's prerogative, isn't it?

Nate was the joy of my life when he and I were both young. He came into our lives after my first attempt at public office, when I was only 24 years old. My good friend and first-ever campaign manager, Steve Switzer (below with toddler Nate and baby Meg) was his Godfather. Nate was born on a hot July day to parents who knew so very little about how to even hold or diaper their new son. The one memory that stands paramount, as I held my son for the first time, is that his little infant chin was quivering without pause or stop. He just simply came out "moving"....

I was a stay-at-home dad for the first year and a half of Nate's life. My bride, Susan, worked as a public school teacher and I took care of baby Nate - using only the evening hours to do part-time work as a waiter. I saw Nate take his first steps, while on a trip to to see my brother and sister in law in Bakersfield, was there when his first word ("basketball") was uttered as we drove together on a S. Californian road in Redlands. I taught him to love candy and spurn vegetables - (I can hear the moms saying "boo/hiss"). We were all young, so very young during those days of the 80's.

Nate was always moving - formal portraits of his toddler years bear witness to a little leg moving here or a turn of the head, there. He loved motion and would peer out the side window of our car watching motion...in motion.

His character was innocent, his friendship pure. He loved us and spoke openly of that love, as a little boy and even into his teen years. "I love you, Mom and Dad" were words we heard so often that we continue to hear them in our minds, even these many months after he has left us.

Sports filled Nate's life, like so many little boys of each generation. Not that he wanted to be a pro athlete - he just liked "doing" sports - every sport, any sport. And he did them well. As a soccer player his left footed shot-on-goal was superb. As a baseball player, his first-base reach was amazing. His jump-shots were accurate, even as he played basketball in prison. He was the only white guy on an all African American pick-up team, whenever the courts were open and he had earned the privilege to play, in those times of incarceration. He loved Ken Griffey, Jr and saw the future big leaguer play when Jr was with the San Bernardino Spirit - even retrieving a homerun ball hit by Griffey - when all of us were young. He adored Jim Rome's fascinating "take" on sports. Nate was a sports trivia wizzard...utterly accurate with minutia.

Nate's love of his friends was without limit. He was always there. When he was little that quality trait was honed to a sharp edge by his loving and devoted buddy-ship with Mark Smit, his best friend.

As a young child, the boy who celebrated birthdays on July 14th, witnessed how much that date meant to his parents and siblings. It was a holiday, of sorts. I took it off from work (as I ended up doing for all the kids' b-days) and we "played" - movies, bbq's, crawling through ponds in search of frogs or tadpoles, going out to dinner or just telling tales about the life of "Nathan the Adventurer".

So, today seemed like a perfect day to continue that tradition. Nate's in Heaven, we are here without him...but we are not without wonderful memories of him.

I invite you to click on the first Vimeo video on the right side-bar of this blog to see a glimpse of the joy of my heart, Nate Mansfield, as he grew to the full stature of manhood.

Happy Birthday, Nater.
Dad

PS:

I f you are the parent of a son or daughter, hold them close. Tell them often that you love them - for you will have NO regrets, even at the time of their accidental passing, should that terrible day ever visit your house.

Instead, sing loud the songs of your heart - together:

"What a wonderful world - skys of blue and clouds of white.

Friends shaking hands saying "How do you do?" They're really saying I love you."

Michael Jackson Murdered?

2009-07-12T00:06:00-06:00

The news this weekend that Michael Jackson may have been murdered is oddly fascinating and worthy of watching, like an auto accident happening right before your eyes.

The bulk of the argument seems to be that Michael "self-administered" certain drugs...under the direction of one or two physicians, ultimately allowing the legal community to now deduce that the docs were contributing to his death... as a homicide rather than an accidental death by his own hand.

Then LaToya Jackson stated publicly yesterday that her brother was indeed murdered....

Over the weekend we've heard from a collection of "professionals" responding to her claim that Jackson could not have died without "somebody" knowing...or someone knowingly contributing to his death.

We've also heard that the toxicological report "should have already been produced"...hmmm. (an implied conspiratorial statement)

Having had to deal with the accidental death by drugs of my own son, a short four months ago, I've seen the type of thoroughness that a properly conducted tox-report takes. In our family's case we did not receive the report for almost 8 weeks, after our son died.

The celebrity nature of Michael Jackson's death could very well have accelerated the report, but I doubt it. The doctors and others who do these reports take copious amounts of time to properly conduct the investigation and present a well organized report.

But let's investigate LaToya's accusation for a second....that "someone" knew and either did nothing...or that "someone" purposely murdered her brother.

Aren't both claims the same thing?

Whoever knew and did not attempt to direct the singer towards recovery, contributed to his death. And every person who sold/gave/bought drugs for him wrapped their collective fingers around the syringe that brought death to Michael Jackson.

So, did someone murder Michael Jackson? Of course they did. And they had both an unwilling accomplice and a willing one: the singer himself.

He first took the drugs, then the drugs took him. It's standard operating procedure in every drug addict's life, who dies while "using".

This tragic death should bring to mind Mick Jagger's line (from one of his more controversial songs) for Michael Jackson's paid-family and paid-friends to consider :

I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me.

Den

Hollywood on the Alamo: Takes 1, 2, 3 and 4

2009-07-11T20:18:26-06:00

As the day comes to an end, I had to have a last posting about "The Alamo".

So here are a few examples of how Hollywood treated the story - from Billy Bob Thorton...to John Wayne...back to Fess Parker, as they "Remembered the Alamo."

Den

The Alamo - a picture of losing to WIN.

2009-07-11T10:17:50-06:00

The Alamo in San Antonio is such a picture of giving one's all so that others could live.

When I was a boy I lived in San Antonio and often visited this Mission. The deep rooted understanding of Crockett and Bowie and Travis became a part of who I became as an adult. Winning means much, yet sometimes a loss will birth a win for others.

It wasn't about "them" and it is not about us.
Den

The Pope and the President(s)

2009-07-10T00:10:00-06:00

The Pope will be meeting with President Obama shortly. This ought to be interesting...

I'm wondering what the tenor of their conversation will be, especially as it is juxtaposed to the Pope's very warm relationship with George Bush, when he was in office.

Bush and the Pope had many philosophical similarities that, quite frankly, are not there with the new President.

With President Obama's administration being very focused at a more secular Presidency - and thus the First Family deciding NOT to join a church in the Capitol City - along with many administrative decisions to embrace a more restrictive understanding of Church/State relations, my question is again before us: what in the world will they discuss?

Benedict is a gracious man, as is President Obama. Both men see the life issue completley differently. Mr. Obama told Pastor Rick Warren that the abortion issue was "above my pay grade". Pithy comment, certainly...but equally sure to cast a long shadow across the Pope's face, if repeated in quiet and diplomatic conversation.

If the Pope brings to America his moral authority, that is a part of his pay grade, on issues of conscience and issues of God's heart, how then can a nation governed by a more-secular Presidential perspective even "have ears to hear"?

That's why I said: this ought to be interesting....
Den

One picture says it all.

2009-07-09T14:01:09-06:00

Dennis Mansfield

"Two old ladies lyin' in bed, one rolled over to the other and said..."

2009-07-09T11:57:20-06:00

Hot concrete...Texas temperatures of 105...NCOs with straight-arrow Campaign Hats and "double-time" songs.

Seeing my son-in-law, who is an Ada County Deputy Sheriff and a martial arts black-belt instructor, run like the wind with his Flight...was exceptional.

My father served in the USAF, his father served in the US Army, as did I. One of my brothers served in the US Army (twice) and one in the USAF. Two brothers-in-law serve(d) as Officers - USAF and USN. Various cousins were/are enlisted men.

And now Caleb. It is a long line of family.

It is ALSO an honor to watch this one man graduate from Air Force Boot.

Den

Seeing her spouse for the first time in a loooong time.

2009-07-09T09:19:02-06:00

Standing behind my adult daughter today was a memory I will never forget.

She has been supporting her husband throughout his extremely tough time period of Basic Training. Never seeing him....never holding him. Only on an infrequent basis did she speak to him by pay phone. Never a glance....

Until this morning.

She saw him and her reaction was glorious! Love conquers Basic Training.

I was so blessed to watch her as she saw him for the first time!!

Den

All those years ago ...Part Two

2009-07-08T19:05:11-06:00

....hardest events of a person's life.

And he is completing it on this date.

What an honor to have him serve our Nation. What a special gift to have his graduation on or near this date.

For you see, 35 years ago today I STARTED my brief time in the military.

Every person who ever swore an oath to the US, received a short-short hair cut...and "grew up" due to Basic Training knows what I mean.

35 years from now, I expect that my son-in-law will remember these days of July.

Den