Friday, June 29, 2012

Supreme Courts Gone Wild

Well, today I found myself asking, "What in the world just happened?" I am of course referring to the incomprehensible ruling of the Supreme Court. Apparently they ran out of toilet paper in the court's bathroom but someone happened to find a copy of the Constitution laying around and figured it would make a good substitute. I don't know if Justice Roberts had a gun to his head or just got a large sum of money under the table, but whatever the reason he decided that this would be a terrific time to play judicial activist and rewrite the Obamacare law and declare the mandate a "tax". I won't complain about the devastating effects that this will have on the American health care system or the huge loss of individual liberty we all just suffered. If you don't understand that already, then wait a couple of years. No, instead I'd like to take a look back in history at a few other colossal travesties that have been inflicted on our nation by his predecessors.
Take for example the case of Dread Scott vs. Sandford in 1857. Justice Taney (an appointee of our first Democratic president Andrew Jackson) who said in his opinion that Scott had no right to sue, being a black man and thus not an American citizen. He went on to state that blacks were inferior to whites and that as chattel and private property, could not be taken away from their owners without due process. At least the ruling helped launch the political career of Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party who's key issue was ending slavery.
Or take for example Plessy v. Ferguson in which the court refused to overturn the Jim Crow laws ruling that separate but equal was just fine and dandy as far as they were concerned.
Then there was the case of Buck v. Bell in 1927 in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (an appointee of our first progressive president, Teddy Roosevelt) upheld forced sterilization of the mentally ill, saying “three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Those enlightened progressives again trampled on human rights again in the case of Korematsu v. the United States which stated the federal government had the right to lock up thousands of U.S. citizens in concentration camps due to military necessity. (Thank you FDR.)
Most atrocious of them all Wade v. Roe in 1973 granted the right to murder unborn children. We took that right and ran with it. Since then 55,000,000 innocent babies have been slaughtered in the name of personal freedom. Hitler almost seems an amateur in comparison.
Oh there are many other examples of ways the Supreme Court has shredded the constitution and individuals rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. This list will suffice to give a taste of how our system of government can fail us. Fortunately sometimes they do decide to read the Constitution they claim to rule by.
The one thing that gives me hope is that we have always managed to get back on track and keep this nation running. Most of the time the worst decisions by the Court are eventually overturned. My prayer for my country is that we don't stray too far. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but with a president who ignores the Constitution, a Legislature who plays along with him, and a Supreme Court that seems intent on backing him up, I'm beginning to think that we are way past the point of no return.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Home is where the heart is

     There is a blaring silence reverberating off the wall of our house tonight, this first night of my temporary bachelorhood.  Yes, Karlye and her mother (God love them) through some mix of bravery and insanity took off in our minivan with 5 kids and 3 bikes on a road trip to Texas today.  I at last have the house to myself for a week, no noise, no chaos, no dirty diapers or bedtime battles.  I have been looking forward to this week with great expectation.

     Now that it has come, as glad as I am to have some time to myself, I am finding already that part of me is missing.  My best friend and five greatest treasures are gone and I think they must have packed part of my soul somewhere in the back of that minivan, because for the life of me I can't seem to find it here no matter how hard I look.  Without them, this home has reverted back to a house.  This silence comes at a price.  Things just aren't the same without the nightly routine.  I don't know how Josiah will be able to sleep without me to tuck him in. I won't have Grace stalling getting to sleep with her nightly request for "Two kisses, two hugs, prayer time and tuck me in".  As much as I enjoy the "me" time I am realizing how important the "us" time has become to me.

     I am not completely myself without my wife and children.  I will certainly enjoy my time alone.  I thrive on the respite from the normal cacophony that fills this place.  I will sleep soundly without fear of waking up at 3:30 to Bill O'Reilly when Karlye is having trouble sleeping.  No small person will disturb my slumber by climbing on top of me in the middle of the night.  I just wonder though if a full night of sleep alone is half as good as an interrupted night of sleep shared with the person you love most in the world.

     I know that somewhere in a hotel room in northern Texas tonight, bedlam reigns supreme.  There is arguing and fighting and kids with a days worth of pent up energy are driving their mother and grandmother to the limit of their patience.  I am very happy not to be a part of it, but I wouldn't mind a little glimpse of it, just to know that even though separated from me by 300 miles, that piece of my heart is still beating.

    Sweet dreams my precious ones.  I love you.