HIROSHIMA, UP CLOSE

The passing of the 65th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima brings to mind one--well, two--of the larger surprises I've encountered in a lifetime of extensive travels. Two visits to Hiroshima, to the very spot where A-bomb #1 exploded and the Peace Museum. The museum, on both occasions, was crowded with Japanese from all over the country. I wondered whether there would be overt expressions of hostility to an American, or at least some unwelcoming looks. There were none. In fact, during hours spent in the museum there were several Japanese--mostly younger adults--who approached with genuine, serious questions about the motivation for the attack and most agreed that, had the war continued, there would have been far greater slaughter among Japanese by an invasion.

On the second visit a few years later, I was surprised to see that the placards explaining each exhibit, written in both Japanese and English, had been altered to point out that the Japanese government was not guilt-free in the bringing about of the nuclear raid. This in a country where Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was never taught in the schools; indeed, I know Japanese who never heard of Pearl Harbor and had always been taught that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the earlier fire-bombings of Tokyo were unprovoked American aggression.

One never-to-be-forgotten exhibit in the Peace Museum is the entryway to a bank near Ground Zero. It is one piece of carved granite steps, not concrete. There is a clearly discernible outline of a woman in the stone. She had been sitting on the steps when the bomb exploded, and was literally burned into the stone.

In a long career as a broadcast interviewer, I have had the odd, if minor, distinction of interviewing Paul Tibbetts, pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb... and the Japanese woman who was the closest surviving human being after the explosion. She professes no ill-will toward the Americans. I have also talked with the father of the next step-upward in nuclear weapons, Dr. Edward Teller, father of the H-bomb.

By the way, listeners to my longtime program on ABC may recall the young Japanese women humorously chanting, "Uncle Lee kicks butt!" That was recorded, with no advance planning, by a few young Japanese secretaries spontaneously assembled at the very spot where A-bomb #1 exploded.

Travel tip: if circumstances ever permit you to visit Japan, do it. It's one of the most fascinating countries in the world, and I've visited about eighty others. And Hiroshima is one of Japan's most beautiful cities. However, don't plan on visiting the old part of the city. There IS no old part. It all vanished in one second in 1945.

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Passing signs of a decaying nation; decaying under the misguidance of a corrupt, power-mad, spendthrift, evil government:

Social Security will pay out more this year than it gets in payroll taxes, the first time since the program will be in the red since it was overhauled in 1983 by the Reagan administration.

The U.S. Postal Service reported a quarterly net loss of $3.5 billion. In THREE MONTHS. The system faces a liquidity crisis (out of money!) in 2011 when the agency must make a $5.5 billion payment to fund retiree health benefits.

Fannie Mae, the government's mortgage-finance company, is asking for $1.5 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department after a 12th straight quarterly loss. Fannie Mae, bastard stepchild of Barney Frank, has accrued more than $148 billion in consecutive losses since 2007.

All of this leads one to conclude that we're in for yet another replay of a political drama we've seen before. Irresponsible Democrats, whoring for votes from the "gimme" crowd, go on a wild spending spree and run up unsustainable debt and deficits. Some Republicans--not all, but some--then win elections and are compelled to try...TRY... to reduce the irresponsible spending. Whereupon demagogue Democrats resume their battle cry: "those heartless Republicans are inflicting pain upon the poor folks who depend upon the government to survive." It never changes.

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Thanks to John B. for forwarding the following:

The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, Robert Sarver, opposes AZ's new immigration laws. Arizona's Governor, Jan Brewer, released the following statement in response to Sarver's criticism of the new law:

"What if the owners of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were sneaking into Arizona Sun's basketball games without paying?

What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected.

Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink?

And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?" -