She Gave Us A Visual Of What's Been Going On

A gal, thinking to be funny, presented us with a visual image of what's been going on in the American political arena.

Even those who agree with her, maybe them especially, don't think it's funny.

The rest of us recognize it for what it is.

Maybe some of those others also recognize it for what it is.

Maybe that's why they don't like it either.

Perhaps they don't like seeing themselves in that particular mirror.

Well, that mirror was produced right down there in that big deep hole they've been digging for themselves for the past year or more. Nobody's seeing themselves in it except for them.

Picking fights at rallies, rioting, trashing sites of marches and protests (some to the point of ecological harm to areas they claimed to be protecting), discriminating against those who disagree with them, mocking and disparaging people whose views differ, offering support to ones who have harmed and are harming our nation and our people, an absence of support for the ones trying to protect our nation and ourselves (even them) ... the list goes on of what that one image represents.

It's all been going on for quite a while now and the rest of us have not been blind to it.

Neither have we been impressed by it.

If some of the ones seeing themselves reflected in that mirror are recognizing themselves for what they have become, they're maybe getting a glimmer of what everyone else has been seeing in them for all this time.

It's not funny.

It is, however, effective.

The image that's been projected by so many for so long is no different from the one they're recoiling from now. It's the face they've been showing to us as Americans and to the world at large. If they don't like it, perhaps it's time for them to do some soul-searching - because the face they present is but a mirror of what's inside of them.

That's not funny, either.

It's a reflection of certain individuals; it does not reflect America.

Just Wondering ...

A thought crossed my mind, turned around, and came back into it. 

Since it's still there maybe this will help to evict it.

I rarely watch the news any more, just enough to try to keep up with what's going on in our world. Most of the time it's just flat out depressing but I can't and won't totally ignore it. Ignoring it will not make it not-real. Plus there are good things happening out there too. Overshadowed by the negative, still there is good and it's a powerful strong good. It just seems to be a lot more quiet than the noisy negative.

Anyway, that particular thought pattern is a permanent resident in my mind and it's not what I'm wondering about on this night.

What has me wondering is how it seems people, lots of people, don't bother themselves about history.

That wonder has been brought to me by a relatively recent thing I heard, which is that Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. While I don't blame him for wanting to distance himself from that label, the one that's been given him instead is just as much of a wonderment to me. They're calling him a Socialist.

Since people don't seem to want to think about such things as history I wonder if they even know anything about something that used to be called the USSR. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

To my mind, the terms 'socialist' and 'republics' don't seem to fit very well into the same phrase but I'm not the one who came up with it.

Not wanting to consider our world's populations in the light of history, perhaps the people who might think being a Socialist could be a good idea ought to look to current events. They could maybe give a gander to Venezuela right about now, if they would like to see Socialism in action.

Just sayin' is all.

We in the United States have a Constitutional Republic. We do not have a democracy. We do not have socialism. We do not have communism. We do not have a monarchy or a dictatorship.

For that I am grateful every day of my life.

As for my wondering mind, I really wonder if those who espouse socialism really have a clue what they're going on about.

When it comes to that, I've been wondering for a good long time why it would be that our democrat party seems to want to insist on referring to our form of government as a democracy. It is nothing of the sort. 

There's a big difference between a Constitutional Republic and a democracy. If you don't know what that difference is, look it up. The short answer is that in a democracy the majority rules. Period. Nobody else has a say about anything. 

Why our democrat party would want any such thing is beyond me as they are obviously NOT the majority they would like to think they are. They're just a lot more noisy than the republican party and the independents. That doesn't make them the majority. It just makes them loud and obnoxious.

Frankly, and I'm an Independent so it's not like I'm affiliated with the 'other side', the democrats these days are starting to remind me of the inevitable drunks I used to see at local bars (pubs) back when I was working for a local charity and had to spend time in said bars. You know the kind of drunks I'm talking about. They're loud, obnoxious, gossiping, picking fights and filled with malice to the point where nobody really wants to associate with them but there they are, in your face. 

All. The. Time. 

So the thought, going hand in hand with the one about how in the world people might think socialism could be a good life choice, is the one about how in the world the democrats could think their current presentation of themselves might possibly make anyone want to be associated with them.

Just wondering.

It's not like there aren't plenty of other things, good things, happy things, that I want to take up residence in my mind. Maybe I'll focus on those things and they'll crowd these wandering wondering thoughts right on out of there.

One can hope.

Letter to Standing Rock, Trump, and America

This is a post from one of my cousins, and my responding comment:

Roger Branson was at Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

8 hrs · Fort Yates, ND · 

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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Government Organization · Fort Yates, ND

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Shiela Branson See if you can get folks to sit down and figure out how to work this thing out together, willya? Everybody's been too overwrought for too long. All those people COULD be working to get that new water system up and running. This nation doesn't need any more 'pity parties' - it needs somebody to stand up and show us how it's done. *IT* being protecting air, water, earth. Standing Rock is in a uniquely perfect position to get alternative energy sources providing its power, for example. Focusing on taking positive steps toward being able to fill in every pipeline and eliminate dependency on fossil fuels would redirect attention into something positive and good for everyone.

... And here are more of my ponderings on the topic:

If Roger's there, he may as well make himself useful.

I've left it alone for the most part first of all because I might have more faith in the Elders of our tribes than a lot of folk do. This is for them to deal with, not me and not you. My 'meddling' isn't going to do the least little bit of good; heaven knows our tribal folk have been meddled with plenty enough over the course of the past few centuries.

And no I'm not going to even try to get into a diatribe about history. We live in today, and we live in this nation together.

One thing I will say, though. There was a lot of fussin' and fightin' going on long before 'the white man' came onto the scene. Even so, the tribes WERE taking care of air, water, earth, and all of the lives that depend on having a decent place to live. Granted, there weren't as many back then but that's a whole different topic.

Me, whatever traces of native DNA might be in my blood don't really count for much so I'm stuck with only being able to say anything as a little old white gramma lady. Nobody's going to listen or pay me any mind, which is fine by me as I don't really have to be any too polite if I don't want to. This is my blog, this is America, and I can (and I will :) ) yammer to my heart's content.

Now, we can't go back and fix anything, but we might be able to learn a thing or two or three from looking back, right?

Yes, the early white folks could have and should have taken a lot more care to actually LEARN from the folk who were already here back in the day. It didn't have to go the way it did, you know. Nevertheless, it did and is water under the bridge now so can we PLEASE at least try to learn something from that mess?

We can't exactly start over, but we CAN start from where we are now.

I had to sleep on this three or four times before even opening my yap here, so it's not like I'm just blathering all of a sudden out of thin air.

WHAT IF Standing Rock really does want to (finally) want to take the lead in something positive that will actually fulfill some goals that have needed attention for a very long time? 

How are we as a nation going to address the problems posed by our energy needs while protecting our environment?

We have to use what we've got to develop what we need. That's plain common sense. We have fossil fuels; almost all of our energy HAS to come from them for a while yet. Fussing about that isn't going to do anybody any good at all, so just stop it already. 

Use all the energy you put into fussing in a different way. Redirect it into fighting to get Standing Rock energy-independent, for cryin' out loud. Set an example, and set the standard. Set the bar as high as you can make it go. Don't tell me it can't be done. Years and years ago the first wind generator I noticed just happened to be the one at the casino up in Devils Lake. You know, the one that provides the power that place needs to run.

Get your water system done on schedule, to begin with, and if it needs to be powered, by golly use the river to power it, not fossil fuel dependent equipment. That would be a good start, and send the message you want to make people listen to. Don't fret about having to use gas/diesel to get that transition made; just get it done. THEN you can stand proud and say 'We're practicing what we're preaching' ... and folks will pay attention. 

Standing Rock, Spirit Lake Nation, Three Tribes, and Turtle Mountain, along with all of the other Native Nations, can do things the rest of us can't, so get the lead out and start showing us how to do what needs to be done. Some cities are already ahead of you on the alternative energy grid thing, but they've got hurdles to leap that you don't. USE your independent nation status for pete's sake. Get your own alternative power sources on line with your own independent power grids. Focus on that and put your people to work on it. If you've already begun, how come I haven't heard about it? I've certainly heard a lot of stuff coming out of the rez lately, and would a LOT rather have had the focus on something that nobody can argue about than what it's been. Just sayin'. If you've got something going that can set a positive example, that's the noise we ought to be hearing - the fight you're winning if you've got an energy grid in place and renewables that are powering your nation. 

What I'm saying here is that the battle over one pipeline is probably technically going to go down as a loss for you. BUT the awareness it's produced is a win for you. Now you've got our attention - show us what you can do to protect and preserve what is yours to protect and preserve.

I do believe that our native folk honestly have a destiny that has long been on hold. It's maybe finally the time for them to Speak more clearly and for us to listen with open ears, to see with open eyes. That does not mean fussin' and fightin' I'll have you know. It means a clearly presented position, a well-planned and operational system in place, and a willingness to both share and receive wisdom. It is not wisdom to pick fights, by anybody.

Why am I focusing on renewables? Because it is our need for energy that seems to be a sort of common denominator in most if not all of the troubles we're trying to cope with these days. We spend a lot of time and effort bickering about everything, time and effort that would better serve us all if it were being directed at getting to the root of the problem and taking steps to solve it. 

So I'm not just talking to Standing Rock and the other tribes here. 

I'm also talking to Mr. Trump and anyone else who might be in a position to actually do something about things (as opposed to this little voice yammering here that nobody's going to listen to). What goes for the tribes goes for the nation as a whole. Give them what they need to develop what we all need. Put our folk back to work in the fossil fuels arena - with the stipulation that a LOT of those fossil fuels are going to be used to provide the energy needed to get the renewables up and running. AND that the folk who are working with fossil fuels are going to be getting training in the technology of renewables so that their employment in the energy producing field will be a smooth transition from fossil to renewable. Yes, put our miners and steelworkers back to doing what they do best, producing what we need to both keep going and to move forward, and guarantee their future employment by getting them ready for that transition.

America does need to get on with getting on. It's going to take work, and it's going to take time. 

And yes, I am of the opinion that our native folk can and will show us how it's done. Give them what they need to do the job, and let them be while they're doing what they need to do - for themselves but also ultimately for all of us. What they come up with is going to be the standard we'll have to meet so we'd better be watching and paying attention while we're leaving them alone to do what they have to do. If we fail them, they fail, and we all go down the tubes. 

Yeah, all those people who have spent months 'protesting' could have been working on that water system instead, but you know what? That too is water under the proverbial bridge. Let it go. Let it flow on down the river. And pay attention to what's hopefully going to be coming next. Not violent confrontation but a meeting of the minds whose responsibility it is to take us beyond what has been and into what can become.

What's Going Into My Front Porch Windows? Eagles.

I'm rough sketching eagles to go into my front porch windows.

Imagine that.

For now they're very simple - graphite on cotton.

Whether or not I'll 'finish' them is anyone's guess. I'll deepen them of course; they're just lightly sketched for the moment. Otherwise, as long as you can tell what they're supposed to be from Main Street I'll probably leave them alone.

I'm making them on the rough side on purpose, using unfinished wood behind the cotton. 

I plan to get seven of them rough sketched tonight. I have to take a break now and then because my fingers, hand, arm, and shoulder get tired. 

Yeah I know - it's not like I'm 'overworking' them. Even so it isn't going to do me any good at all to push beyond reason or they will get overworked. 

When I get them all sketched I'll think about backgrounds. At the moment I'm leaning toward skyscapes in the six basic color families: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. The seventh one will probably have black coming in from the outside to white coming out from the eagle. Maybe I'll just use that for all of them, come to think of it, and skip the skyscapes.

Ach.

Who knows?

I reckon the eagles themselves will make that call. And yes I do realize that sounds weird. Cope as best you can. I have a hunch these eagles are going to be as bossy as our Characters are.

Speaking of whom ... yes, they're champing at their respective bits but are showing admirable restraint at the moment. After all this nation represents what they all lived and died to protect and preserve. They aren't going to balk about sharing a little time here so these eagles can have their say. 

And here they are - the first six anyway - in rough draft form. Yes, three and six are the 'same'. They flank the rest. Actually it was an accident. I was picking the birds as I went along and totally picked the same one twice.

No, they're not finished. There are times I kick myself for letting anyone see works in progress but then I think - what the heck - so be it.

Oh, and I've got one more to do but being as it's past my bedtime already and I have shifts to fill for a few days, rest sounds like it might be a good idea.

Here are these all lined up:

An American Story Nobody Wants To Hear

From my perspective, we’ve got several ‘factions’ going here in the good old US of A.

First we’ve got the folk who don’t mind giving everything away to everybody. They’re generous folk, good-hearted, compassionate, and kinda on the scared side. Now that they’ve started that cart rolling  and been so strong in the giving away of everything to everybody, they don’t dare stop for fear those who have been the beneficiaries of their extensive largess will just take it anyhow; they’ve been told such would be the case and they believe the ones who told them so. We’ll call these folk the Givers.

Next are the ones who are more than a little appalled at the free-wheeling open-handedness of their neighbors. See, it’s not just the generous folk’s own stuff they’ve been giving away for all this time – it’s the stuff of these folk too. So these guys are getting somewhat ticked about that situation. They, however, aren’t afraid that the receivers are going to come and take what little they have left if the giving well should go dry. These are the ones who aren’t going to let that happen, at least not to them. These folk we’ll refer to as the Protectors.

Then there are the Receivers. Lots of them have had a true need for a long time. Lots of them take what they’ve been given and put it to good use – so they leave the ranks of the Receivers and go into the ranks of either the Givers or the Protectors. Nobody has a problem with these folk. On the other hand, there are lots and lots of Receivers who never think they’ve received enough to do anything worthwhile with. Whenever somebody mentions that maybe they ought to be kicking in somehow, they rattle the spears that they do always seem to have been given enough to obtain. The Givers back down right quick and give them whatever they want and the Protectors scowl and check their own spears.

And finally we have the Giver/Takers. These aren’t quite exactly like the Receivers but the line that separates them might be a little hard to distinguish at times. The main difference is that these folk tend to show up out of the blue, spears in some hands, and take stuff that’s given to them, some of them pleased as punch to actually do their bit to earn that stuff, true enough. But the stuff they earn generally gets sent back to where they came from. These too are generous, good-hearted folk who work hard to take care of their own, most of them – except they’re not supposed to be here in the first place so they don’t get nearly as much stuff as their hard work would seem to warrant. So they get a little owly about things, and their numbers keep right on growing until there are too many of them to keep them all busy any more. Many opt out of the Giver/Taker role and just go with being Takers.

And the Givers just keep on giving, not so much out of kindness of heart or generosity any more but because they’re afraid to stop. What would happen to all those poor Receiver folk and all those poor Taker folk if the Givers stopped taking care of them? And what would the Givers do if the Receivers and the Takers got mad? See, the Givers don’t believe in having spears of their own.

So the Protectors, working their tails off to kick in and doing what they do to provide for themselves and their own folk, are watching all this, safe enough because they do have their own spears. But they’re none too pleased that their hard work doesn’t seem to be getting them and their own folk much of anything.

The Receivers keep right on receiving, rattling those spears once in a while and looking sideways at the Takers who are getting a hefty hunk of the available stuff the Givers are so generous with. They might be thinking how much of that stuff ought to be coming to them instead, who knows? The ex-Receivers who are now in the ranks of the Givers and the Protectors seem to be disgusted by the whole thing but aren’t going to go back to being Receivers, not if they can help it.

The Giver/Takers are too numerous to hide any more. A lot of them still want to just do their bit and have things continue as they’ve gone for a long time. But their kinfolk, who want to be Receivers but can’t because they’re not supposed to be here, make that difficult. If they can’t be Receivers, they’ll be Takers. They want what the Receivers have.

And the Givers are getting nervous because they’ve already given themselves and everybody else right into the red. The well is about to run dry.

The Protectors are getting more and more ticked. Some of them get swords to go with their spears. They set out to either protect what little is left in the well, or cap the thing.

The Receivers add more spears to their arsenals.

The Giver/Takers try to keep a low profile; they’ve gotten pretty good at that. The ones among them who have become Takers look sideways at everybody and get themselves more spears.

Well.

What do we expect to have happen here?

One thing I noticed, which may or may not be pertinent here, is that homegrown folk seem to be literally moving out of the places that are real big on giving. They hie themselves to the places that are bigger on protecting. Imagine that. I doubt most folk even realize that’s been going on for years already.

When they leave, they leave behind the Receivers, a lot of them; they leave behind the Takers, a lot of them; and they leave behind the Givers, a lot of them.

Proportionally speaking, the Givers are liable to wind up with all the Receivers and the Takers on their doorsteps – and won’t have anything left to give them, much as they would dearly love to be able to keep on giving. By this time nobody but some of the Protectors has anything any more; the Givers are hoist on their own petard so to speak. And they’ve managed to hoist most of the rest of us with them.

What are the Givers going to do about it?

They get ticked at the Protectors who are the only ones who have anything left, and blame them for the well going dry.

Because the Protectors have spears and the Givers do not, it’s not like the Givers themselves can just grab any more of the Protectors’ stuff to give to the Receivers and the Takers.

The Receivers and the Takers turn on the Givers. The Givers run to the Protectors for … um … protection. Being smarter than the average bear, the Protectors have realized this would happen. They can’t protect everyone so they focus on protecting themselves and their own. They’ve got stuff, sure they do – they’ve saved up a lot of their stuff; they know how to make more stuff; not only that, they’ve got what they need to make that more stuff. But they cannot make enough stuff for everyone, not any more. So they make stuff for themselves and post guards.

The Givers are on the outside now. They’re out there with the Receivers and the Takers and boy is that an eye-opening situation. They’re the only ones out there without spears. Talk about vulnerable.

They promise to give everything that the Protectors are protecting to the Receivers and the Takers – if the Receivers and the Takers will follow their lead in getting it away from the Protectors.

Well.

The Receivers and the Takers might not be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier but even to them the Givers brainstorm of an idea just sounds dumb.

When they take to picking off the Givers, and rattle their spears at the Protectors themselves, the Protectors get ticked enough to step up to the plate.

That scares the dickons out of the Takers because after all they aren’t supposed to even be here in the first place. They head for home as fast as they can go. The Receivers are right behind them but going somewhat slower because they think the Protectors might change their minds and decide to become Givers.

Nope.

Keep going is the word from the Protectors.

Enough is enough already.

The Givers don’t particularly enjoy becoming Receivers; it goes against their grain.

The Protectors, now in the position of having to be the Givers of the equation, aren’t overly fond of their situation, either.

The abrupt arrival of all the Takers and the Receivers south of the border upsets the status quo down there in a big way. The Takers are let in, but most of the Receivers are refused entrance. Totally not used to having to work for a living, said Receivers have a tough go of it. They’re on their own down there because all of the Protectors and Givers have left the vicinity, the Takers are safely home again, and the Giver/Takers are laying low.

But the Giver/Takers now have plenty of jobs again. Having kept a low profile and staying out of the whole thing, the Protectors invite them to stay. In turn, they invite the Receivers who are good workers to join them – but they do not give them anything except a chance to work.

The Givers (who are now the Receivers) are so uncomfortable in their new role that they get themselves busy and become some of the hardest workers of all. Still Givers at heart, they finally realize that in order to give they must first have.

The Protectors are in no way intimidated by much of anything. They give to the Givers (now Receivers) but only just enough to get by on. The rest the Givers/Receivers have to come up with for themselves by working for it.

All things considered, with the Receivers and the Takers out of the equation, it doesn’t take long for the Givers to get back on their feet. They have a new appreciation of how to go about their giving within the laws of reason, and pay closer attention to the Protectors instead of griping about them all the time. They have learned an extremely painful lesson, which is to say NO before everything gets completely out of hand.

That’s my perspective on things.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast and all that, but if there’s a less drastic way out of all this somebody better come up with it in a real fast hurry.

This little outline of a story is the sugar-coated version, one that has a relatively happy ending.

We had a Civil War once upon a time. The line was fairly clear on a geographical level that time. Much of what is now a part of our nation wasn’t part of it yet. There were places people could go to escape warfare if they wanted to (at least that kind of warfare). You were either a Northerner or a Southerner and it wasn’t all that hard to tell which was which.

Now there’s no real way to accurately even ‘label’ anybody. There is no Mason-Dixon Line. The metaphorical ‘spears’ in the above are not muskets, or even six-shooters; they are weapons with a lot more power. People are not ‘rattling spears’; they’re outright killing people.

The ‘Givers’ have earned for themselves the suspicion of the ‘Protectors’; even the ‘Receivers’ can’t trust them any more – they know that well’s gonna run dry. And the ‘Givers’, the ones who do not believe in arming themselves, are not actually un-armed. They just think they personally do not need to defend themselves because they believe the military will do that for them if need be. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons nobody really trusts them.

So the above is not exactly anything except a very over-simplified perspective.

The other thing about it is that a person could well extrapolate.

Unless the United States really does go into an Isolation Phase, and right quick, until her internal affairs are in order, and manages to keep everyone else out of her house-cleaning, the whole thing is even more complicated.

None of us, not one, is so naïve as to not ‘get it’ that not all of our ‘Receivers’ are locals, so to speak. If the United States decides to ‘clean house’ she’d better be darned sure it’s going to work the way it’s supposed to – to make her stronger than she has ever been. Because, while we’re cleaning house, focusing on internal affairs for a change, the rest of the world is going to be clamoring for our attention, you can bet on that.

If our well going dry makes our local ‘Receivers’ and ‘Takers’ go around the bend, what’s it going to do on a bigger scale?

As I said, extrapolate.

Yet there comes a time, I think, when it is imperative to close our doors and lock our windows for a time, have a Family Meeting so to speak, and find our own way out.

Quite frankly, there is nothing – not one single solitary thing – that we would have to look for outside our own doors.

Nothing.

It is our somewhat arbitrary need to give, to share – perhaps to dominate if you look at it from that not-so-altruistic perspective – that seems to make us think we cannot, or shouldn’t, be self-sufficient. If we were as self-sufficient as we could and should be, without looking beyond our own doorstep; if we could, as we probably should pretty soon, curb our somewhat arbitrary need to give, to share, to dominate … what would the consequences be?

I’m no economist but our unemployment might go away.

I’m no scientist but the genius-caliber ones among us might be encouraged to do what they do best. At home.

I’m no technician but we have among us techs who could do what they do best. At home.

I’m no farmer but our ag people could most certainly produce ample provisions to care for us.

I’m no manufacturer but we have plenty of skill in that arena, and plenty of natural resources to use, including a work force.

I’m not in the military but our soldiers would have plenty to keep them busy, guarding what is ours to protect and preserve.

I’m not an administrator but getting things organized and keeping them that way would be a major task.

I’m not an infrastructure builder but I use our highways and other public things; those whose skills are in those areas would be much needed.

I’m no doctor and haven’t needed one in years but if that time should come I would like to be able to go to one of my own choosing. They will always be needed and ought to be allowed to stand or fall on their own merits.

I no longer have children in school but my grandchildren need to be educated; options on that front might become more of a priority if we had more time to consider their needs.

I’m not a secretary or a sales clerk or a farm hand or a burger-flipper or a firefighter or an electrician or a plumber or a roofer or a waitress or a line-worker or a truck driver or any of the rest of the professions that keep our lives running smoothly … but maybe those jobs would be kept filled with competent folk who know what they’re doing.

I’m not an entertainer but we have some mighty talented people who could make us all laugh, or cry, or think …

I’m not a journalist but we have a number of good folk who would be awfully busy keeping us all informed on what’s going on in this nation of ours, focusing on our own folk for once.

And, contrary to what people might think from reading what I just wrote, I am not an Isolationist.

I just think that we need to be putting more of our attention and our resources to work on our own behalf.

If/when there’s a budget surplus, then would be the time to start taking requests from all and sundry.

We cannot afford to feed the world until our own are fed.

We cannot afford to house the world until we have no homeless of our own.

We cannot afford to outsource employment until our own are all gainfully employed.

We cannot afford to donate bridges or roads or anything else for anyone else until our own are finished and maintained.

We cannot afford to buy energy when we have adequate resources to provide our own at less expense.

We cannot afford to be Givers, not right now.

That time will come more quickly and be more substantial if we take the time and make the effort to tend to what needs tending to on the home front.

So no.

I am not an Isolationist.

I would probably be a Giver if I had anything to give.

But a dry well takes time to refill. When there’s nothing but dust in that deep hole, the Receivers are going to be in for a very rude awakening. So will the Takers. So will the Givers.

It would behoove all of the above to think long and hard about what it will take to refill that well. 

It would behoove the rest of the world to let us be while we do what we have to do here. It would be in their best interests, whether they think so or not.

Too many are too pleased to see that well going dry. I cannot for the life of me figure out how they could think that would be a good thing. Well, aside from the jackels who circle, slavering at the thought of picking the bones.

We do not, believe me we do not, want to find ourselves facing even the sugar-water version of that little story up there. Yet that is exactly where we’re heading.

And that’s about enough of that for this day I do believe. I’ve got some paintings to get done for my front porch windows.

That ought to keep me busy and out of trouble for a little while, unless people figure out what I’m saying with those paintings and decide to be offended by them.

The Constitution re Supreme Court Appointments

Guess what, folks.

Even if we don't particularly like or appreciate any given part of our Constitution at a particular time or in a particular circumstance, it is still the Law of our Land and abide by it we must.

If I've been derelict in my duty as a citizen of this nation, so have a lot of us.

In the past couple of hours I've learned a lot about a man I honestly knew nothing about until he died.

Probably the most important thing I learned about this man is that he was as true to our Constitution and as savvy about its intent and purpose as anyone could be who wasn't there at the time it was written. What I've gotten out of my 'education' here is that no we do not have to personally agree with every last word of it but we are by golly required to abide by it anyway.

Whether or not you and/or I happen to think it would be in the best interest of our nation for our current President to nominate/appoint a Judge of the Supreme Court is irrelevant. Whether or not ANYBODY, including any currently seated Senator, agrees is moot. 

The President of the United States is the one who nominates the Judges of the Supreme Court and, with the consent of the Senate, appoints said Judges.

That being an unequivocal given, why in the world anyone would even bother to dispute the point is beyond me. It's right there, in the Constitution, if you care to look.

If a Senator, or whoever, has a problem with it, too bad. Lots of us might have a problem with it. That doesn't change the fact of the matter. The President nominates, the Senate consents (or not), and onward we go.

I don't know about you, but I find it distasteful, disrespectful, and downright tacky that 1) said current President would so immediately jump on the replacement issue, and 2) our politicians of the opposing party would react so immediately and emphatically. That, to me, is being flat out bad-mannered.

For someone like me, who didn't know or appreciate that this man, the one who died so suddenly, had been devoting his life to protecting and preserving my rights under the Constitution for all that time, it feels distinctly wrong somehow. Here I am, barely getting to know this guy, when it's too late to get to shake his hand and say thank you, and they're already fighting. 

It smacks of a bunch of nuts starting a fist-fight at a funeral. Tacky. Nasty. Totally disrespectful.

The kicker of it is that each and all of said fighting nuts is sworn to protect and uphold the very Constitution this man fought for - ALL the time, not just when it happens to suit their fancy.

Much as it hurts my soul and embarrasses me to say it, not a one of them is acting worthy of the oath they've given. 

Not a one of them ought to be allowed to attend the funeral of this man.

Me, I couldn't go to said funeral even if I was entitled to. 

But I can show a little respect. 
I can respect the man and what he stood for. 
I can grieve. 
I can be grateful. 
And I can pray that there are more like him, out there somewhere.

I never met Antonin Scalia and now it's too late. 

I'll never get to tell him thank you for protecting ME.

Yes, me.

And you.

I'm kind of ashamed at the behavior of the 'leaders' of our nation right about now.

If I could, I would apologize to the family of this man. If I feel such an unexpected sense of loss, what must they be feeling? His job must have cost him so much time with them ... what he was doing on behalf of me, and of you, that was a cost to his family. For that we owe them big time. It hurts me to think that they might think we're all as disrespectful as some.

Anyway, the Constitution he loved and respected is also loved and respected by a lot more of us than a person might expect, given the ones who are pretty blatant in their disrespect. The fact that he has played a part in keeping that legacy intact for us does matter. It matters to me and it had better matter to you.