Whatever happened to Jared Kushner?

American flags were at half-mast yesterday. When I asked my colleagues why, they replied 9/11. I didn't quite know what to say, though I should have known. Later, alone, I thought what I could have said: flags at half-mast just as well might have been in tribute to American servicemen and women who've lost their lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the 17 years since our invasion(s) of those countries.

Pursuing this branch of inquiry I wondered if our nation--or rather those in decision making positions regarding the flying of the American flag--had ever considered raising (or is is lowering?) the flag to half-mast in recognition of the tragedies of Little Big Horn or the My Lai Massacre.

What is courage? Or rather, what is political courage? Is it to attack or to listen? One often attacks when one is fearful; rather than attack one can choose to listen when one is fearful, with the additional prospect of understanding and of being understood. Is it then possible to form a foreign policy made up of transparency and the kind of listening courage I've just conceived? Anything's possible I suppose, though to accomplish such a thing a man would have to go underground. 

And what's become of Jared Kushner? He was once high on the flgapole but is now nowhere to be seen.

 Old Glory under a full moon, The Presidio, San Francisco, 2016.