Identity

Just as I dropped off my 11-year-old granddaughter’s sleepover bag at the home of one of her new friends recently, the friend’s mother came out to greet me.

I explained the obvious — that I was the grandfather— and she explained the equally obvious — that she was the mother. “I guess we’re all somebody’s something, right?” she said in her lovely Spanish accent as we shook hands.

I laughed and nodded agreement.

“Somebody’s something” — that phrase stuck with me. The way we introduce ourselves to new people depends so much on the context of the moment, doesn’t it?

In some social settings, I present myself as a journalist, in others, I stress that I’m a retired person. Of course, much of the time, I’m introduced as somebody’s Grandpa, or someone’s Dad. 

But sometimes, when I’m meeting somebody new, I just go with the obvious, “I’m an old guy.”

There are so many other identifiers to choose from — man or woman (or trans), black or white or brown, etc., Democrat, Republican or Independent, straight or not, rich or not, landowner or renter, neighbors, friends, mentors, fans, employers, citizen or a person at risk of being suddenly grabbed off the street by masked men and whisked away in an unmarked van to a holding area before being deported to some horrible concentration camp somewhere overseas.

So wait a minute! Is this still America, the land that used to welcome the afflicted, offering them comfort and safety? Or is this just evil Trumpville now, where cruelty, racism, and misery prevail.

Remember that these are our neighbors, our nannies, our gardeners, our housecleaners, our drivers, our farmworkers, our fellow parents and grandparents, our friends and our fellow human beings in this great land of ours.

We’re all somebody’s something. The question is whether in America that actually matters any longer.

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HEADLINES:

• Trump canceling elections? Democrats increasingly sound alarm bells. (CNN)

• Over 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data, pointing to the impact of Trump's draconian immigration policies. [AP] 

• Trump illegally deployed national guard during LA Ice protests, judge rules (Guardian)

• Trump Is Inventing Fake Emergencies to Gain Real-World Power (Atlantic)

• Trump will move Space Command from Colorado to Alabama (Politico)

• Investors underestimate Trump’s threat to the Federal Reserve, economists warn (Financial Times)

• Trump’s Fed interference raises alarm among leading economists (The Banker)

• Alarm as US far-right extremists eye drones for use in domestic attacks (Guardian)

• Texas Democrats’ Weapons of the Weak (New Yorker)

• The Anti-Trump Resistance That’s Actually Working (Atlantic)

• The defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting will get one of TV’s biggest prizes (AP)

• Scientists are discovering a powerful new way to prevent cancer (Economist)

• Putin Finds a Growing Embrace on the Global Stage (NYT)

• The Neighbor From Hell (Atlantic)

• Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing (Guardian)

• Newsom Outflanks Trump Again In Battle Over Kamala Harris’ Security (Deadline)

• A downturn in international travel to the US may last beyond summer, experts warn (AP)

• Judge Orders Google to Share Search Results to Help Resolve Monopoly (NYT)

• 5 ways job seekers can improve their AI literacy (WP)

• Corporation Reaches Goal, Shuts Down (The Onion)