761. Legislative Unease

(The following are remarks I made at today's Quarterly Meeting of the Kentucky Democratic Party.  The meeting was held at the Hilton Hotel in Lexington).

Mr. Chair and members of the Committee --

Last week the Kentucky Senate passed a bill which would allow Kentuckians to disobey certain Federal laws and certain Federal Executive Orders.  Such laws are known as Nullification Laws.  They aren’t new and most have been struck down over the years by what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Nullification isn’t a new idea for Kentucky.  We were the second state to offer such laws, the Kentucky Resolutions, back in 1799.  Virginia, our mother-state, beat us to it in 1798.  And over time many states in all parts of the country have passed laws which have come to be known as Nullification Laws.  We’re not paving the way with any new ideas, but we are jumping on the bandwagon of many states which are, for their own reasons, unhappy about the administration of Barack Obama, our recently re-elected Democratic president.  The current national leader of the nullification movement is our own United States Senator Rand Paul. 

That our Senate has followed the direction of Rand Paul is not a surprise – we all know the Senate is controlled by the Republicans and, unfortunately, is likely to remain so for some time.  My greater concern is that with the exception of my senator Gerald Neal, my favorite senator from Lexington Kathy Stein, and my favorite newest Democratic senator, Morgan McGarvey, every other Democratic senator has followed Rand Paul’s lead on this matter.

It is my belief that when our state and the other 49 joined the union, by their participation in the Federal government, they agreed to participate in all of it.  As a Louisvillian, there have been times when I have accepted the fact that Louisville sends considerably more money to Frankfort than we receive in return.  This is part of the compact we as Louisvillians have with our fellow Kentuckians.  It is a good thing.  In the reverse manner, we as Kentuckians should be grateful to the Federal government, with all its warts and shortcomings, as we receive in return much more than we send to Washington, DC.  I’ve expressed my concerns about this vote to two senators who were yes votes in whose campaigns I have played a part - and wanted to extend knowledge of my dissatisfaction to this body.

On a different matter, and in the other house of the General Assembly, I am also concerned and dissatisfied.  Two days ago, the Kentucky House, in the name of religious freedom, passed a law which subverts the gains Kentucky and a few - very few - of its local communities have made with regard to civil rights protections for lesbians, gays, and others.  In the name of religious freedom, which I would call religious preference, something forbidden by the United States Constitution, our House passed a law by an overwhelming vote – seven Democrats voting no and the balance of the Chamber in favor – which could strip away discrimination protections in the name of religious freedom.

Two attempts were made by my representative in the House, Darryl Owens, to amend the bill, one passed and one was not called for a vote - both in the name of protecting the gains made in civil rights over the years, and especially in the cities of Vicco, Covington, Lexington, and Louisville.

Each of these bills now head to the other Chamber where both will likely be passed. Each bill needs work and if passed as written I would hope Governor Beshear would give the General Assembly more time to think through their votes by vetoing these horrible pieces of legislation.

Thank You.

JEFF NOBLE, 3^rd CD Committeeman

760. A little Wilde.

“Life is not governed by will or intention. Life is a question of nerves, and fibers, and slowly built-up cells in which thought hides itself and passion has its dreams. You may fancy yourself safe, and think yourself strong. But a chance tone of color in a room or a morning sky, a particular perfume that you had once loved and that brings subtle memories with it, a line from a forgotten poem that you had come across again, a cadence from a piece of music that you had ceased to play - I tell you that it is on things like these that our lives depend.”

From Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890.

759. Counting counties

My seven faithful readers know that each year there has been an accounting of the counties in Kentucky visited by Yours Truly during the course of the previous year.  As has been previously explained, since 1979 I have maintained a series of maps of the Commonwealth on which I mark the counties I visit through the course of the year. 

Over the years the number varies and only twice has it to the mountaintop, so to speak, in those years where my feet somehow touched terra firma in all 120 of Kentucky's junior fiefdoms.  That was not the case in 2012 when the number reached just past the 1/3 mark at 41 counties visited.  And, as has been the case in every year except 1979 and 1987, neither Lawrence nor Elliott were among them.

There are the stand-bys - all close to Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington, with trips made between the three cities on a regular basis.  Fayette was the first county visited in 2012 since I had celebrated New Year's Eve in, as one friend calls it, the Center of the Universe.

The northernmost county visited was technically Boone since it extends more northward than any other county, but the northernmost point in the state I actually visited was in Campbell on a road trip with my dear friend Preston Bates.  We trekked along KY8 heading east out of Newport before returning later than evening and having dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Monmouth Street.

My trip to Charlotte for the 2012 Democratic National Convention afforded the southernmost point, at Exit #11 of I-75 in Williamsburg, Kentucky and Whitley County, just north of the Tennessee line.  I stopped there on the way down, but not on the way back.

To the east was a brief visit into Owsley County while travelling one afternoon with my friend Aaron Jent, the same trip where we walked across the Natural Bridge a few counties over.  That was a fine afternoon ride.

Finally the westernmost place visited was in Hawesville, in Hancock County.  I usually get much further west than this, but illness prevented my usual trip to West Kentucky and Fancy Farm.  On the day before Thanksgiving, determined that Muldraugh wasn't going to be my westernmost city this past year, I drove westward on US60 and other routes to the Hancock County seat where I toured the old Court House and had a conversation with County Judge/Executive Jack McCaslin, a Democrat who first took office in 1999.

That the report.  We'll see if 2013 takes us more places.  So far, sixteen days in, I haven't as yet left the bounds of Jefferson County.

758. Kerry and Cuba

Opening the doors of Cuba is something I have believed in for over three decades. I have never understood America's stance on the matter, from either the left or the right, and especially after the fall of most of the world's Communist states. Anytime there is a glimmer of hope, it gets my attention. It was one of the two things I thought George W. Bush got right and he came close. But then the powers-that-be got to him and he backed off. The other was his green-card-to-freedom program for immigrants working in America. It, too, has been met by a deaf ear from the current administration, much to my dissatisfaction. I'm hoping a lame-duck second term and a different Secretary of State will allow the president to realign his priorities in these matters.

757. Some numbers

First, my apologies for missing the Winter Solstice, Christmas, the final Full Moon of 2012, and, more recently, the New Year celebration.  They've been covered in the past and there is little to add.  Minus any bad gifts or bad dates for New Year's Eve, there are minimal changes in how these are celebrated.  And, they happen with precision.  The Solstice, the Full Moon, Christmas, and New Year.  But that precision is determined in different ways.  And that is sort of (the opposite of) what this entry is about.

Solstices and Full Moons don't happen at the exact same time every year or month.  While solstices have only happened, to my knowledge, in June and December, like their counterparts, the equinoxes, which only happen in March and September, full moons come and go on a moving pattern about every 28 days, so they roam through the dates on a calendar.  Christmas and New Year, however, are well-established on their dates of December 25 and January 1.  If someone wishes to take me task on that latter date, that is ok.  I am aware that the Romans cited March 1 as their New Year.

But this entry isn't even about that except for the part dealing with numbers.  As my seven faithful readers may or may not know, I have a fascination with numbers, one which is manifested in many different ways.  I like the way they interact, I like the way they add up, multiply, divide, and diminish.  I even like their fractions, perfect numbers, prime numbers, denominators, and numerators.  All of it.  I've made something of a career out of it.

Thus, I've been pleased to have lived my life in the time frame I have as I've been witness to some interesting dates over time.  In this essay, by dates I will not always mean things like March 23 or December 13 or June 30 or September 2, all of which do have my attention for one reason or another.  I might mean their corresponding dates, such as 03/23 or 12/13 or 06/30 or 09/02.  You get the idea.

During my lifetime we've lived through some interesting combinations of dates.  The numbers assigned to make up our dates, we must accept, are arbitrary.  We currently operate under what is known as the Gregorian Calendar.  It was put in place by Pope Gregory in the days when a pope could do such things.  It replaced the Julian calendar.  It was adopted in the United Kingdom, and thus the British colonies, on September 2, 1752, which was then followed by September 14, 1752.  Not everywhere adopted it at the same time.  Russia didn't start using it until January 31, 1918.  Alaska's calendar changed from the former Julian calendar, also named for a pope, between the British adoption and the Russian adoption, when its ownership changed hands in what is sometimes referred to as Seward's Folly, the purchase of Alaska by the United States.  The treaty approving the purchase passed the Senate in April 1867 with a six month delay in taking effect.  Thus, October 6, 1867 was followed by October 18, 1867, in America's Last Frontier.  Some of you have heard the reference to Seward's Folly since high school history classes.  If you have been to see the movie Lincoln, he, Seward, after Lincoln, played one of the largest roles in the handling of the Civil War, a most interesting character.  But, I digress.  

As stated, the calendar is ever-changing, even if in miniscule ways, such as leap-seconds.  A leap second is added, usually unbeknownst to most of us, now and then so that our clocks are in accord with the passage of a day, which in lay terms is the amount of time between the passes of the sun directly overhead.  The most recent leap-second was added at the end of the 23rd hour and the 59th minute of that hour and after the 59th second of that minute on June 30th just six months ago.  Did you feel it?  They are added either at that point on June 30 or at that same point on December 31, which is when one was added in both 2005 and 2008.  The more common change of the calendar is the one we all do experience every four years in February when a leap-day is added.  2012 was one such year.  But here is one of those extraordinary days that caught my attention, in a reverse sort of way.  Back in 2000, you remember Y2K, we added, as might be expected, a leap-year day and called it February 29, 2000.  But, there wasn't a leap-year day added in 1700, 1800, or 1900.  Nor will there be one in 2100, 2200, or 2300.  Every hundred years, according to the rules, we don't add one, unless the first two digits of that year is divisible by four, as was the 20 in 2000.  And we were there.

I don't remember when dates and numbers first caught my attention.  I do remember recognising at a very young age that my brother and I were each born on a prime number, he on the 17th, me on the 23rd.  I remember noticing the birthday of a girl I dated in high school, Janice.  Her birthday was January 9, or 1/9.  And she was born in 1962.  Her birthday could read 1/9/62, from 1962.  A little thing, but it got my attention.  The same would be true of anyone born on January 9th, at least in the 20th century.  But because there is no 0th day of February, that little fascination went out of style almost fourteen years ago.

Some other oddities we've lived through are more palindromic years than usual, meaning two.  Since the year 1000, palindromic years have been 110 years apart.  For example, 1001, 1111, 1221, 1331, and so forth.  But we who have lived in the last 22 years have made it through two in that 110 year window, 1991 and 2002.  The next one will be 2112, then 2222, and so on.  I remember working this out in my head in 1991, an exceptionally bad year for me and I was looking for reasons as to why that was the case.  We also have had the fortune of living through all the repetitive dates and even times.  Just three weeks ago was the much flaunted 12/12/12.  There were also 11/11/11 and 10/10/10.  But we cannot count the others because of that 0 ahead of the final digit.  I have two friends, Bobby and Morgan, who were born on 8/8 and 10/10 respectively.  My former boss and friend, E. Porter Hatcher, Jr., who passed away three days ago, was born on 9/9.  My step-nephew, Jimmy Jones, was born on 5/5.  He was born in the palindromic year 1991, giving him a double fun-fact.  I've often tried to co-relate my parents' birth dates of 11/1 and 1/22.  Surely there is something there, you'd think.

Two more thoughts.  First, years with consecutive numbers.  Admittedly, none of us have lived in a consecutive in-a-row year, what the Lottery would call a straight-box.  The last one was 1234 and the next one is 2345.  But we have lived in two which were made up of consecutive numbers.  These were 1980 and, now, 2013.  The next will be in 2019 and hopefully many of us will see it.  The next after that is 2091, presumed to be out-of-reach.

Finally, to my readers and friends under the age of 25, this is an historic year for you. It is the first year of your life that one of the digits isn't a repeater.  Every year from 1988 to 2012 has been made up of only three different numbers amongst the four digits, and in two cases, only two different figures - 1999 and 2000.  2013 is the first year since 1987 that the four numbers are all different.

So, it really is a new year, at least as far as numbers go.

Happy New Year.  Celebrate!

756. Solstice

Thursday, and possibly the world if pop culture has it right, comes to an end.

Finished the Yarmuth mailing and, with Michael, delivered it to the Post Office. Then had a pleasant meal at North End where neither of us apparently thought enough of it to "check-in" with the other.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days, the Winter Solstice, the feasts of Saturnalia and Yuletide, and in Wales Lá an Dreoilín. It has been borrowed by Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ and is a common marker for a new year. On some calendars it is Midwinter or even the mid-year, especially for students.

The shortest day, the longest night.

So, celebrate and enjoy - here's to Best Wishes for Earth's next journey around the Sun. AMEN.

P7. Prayers

The seventh in a series of Prayers of the People, written for the Episcopal Church of the Advent.  See Entry #736 for a full explanation.

*****

PRAYERS FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT, APRIL 3, 2011

Reader:  As we journey forward through the Lenten season, let us pray for the world and all those in need, responding to O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

For the people of your creation throughout the world, and for those who are blinded by the real and unreal issues of our time, and for those who have seen and believed, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

For all the leaders of the world, in this special season, may they use their powers and resources for moderation in our use of fossil fuels which pollute our environment, diverting our limited resources from those in need, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

For our national leaders, especially our President Barack and our military personnel, we seek the success of their goals and their safe return home from Libya, Afghanistan, and other sites of deployment, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

For ourselves to be shepherded through our decisions affecting our environment; bringing light to the creation and use of new technologies; bringing acceptance of the need to reuse, recycle, and reclaim; and exposing the unfruitful works of darkness to find all that is good and right and true, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

For the needs of your church in the Anglican Communion for the Diocese of Multan, Pakistan; in the Diocese of Kentucky for the Kentucky Council of Churches, and in the Highland Community Ministries for Immanuel United Church of Christ, and for our Presiding Bishop Katharine, our Rector Tim, our Deacon Eva, and for all those who minister in our Parish, and for those on Advent’s prayer list [names go here], in fervent hope that all these know you as their shepherd, and that goodness and mercy shall abide with us forever, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

We pray for the dying and the deceased in our family and parish, for [names go here].  Give the living your peace and consolation, and the dead a home in the Church Eternal, we pray O Lord Our Shepherd, Shine On Us!

Presider:  O God of our Earth, our temporal home, give us the light and wisdom to awake and protect our planet, to sustain it in our days and for all the days to come we pray, and to one day hear the call of Sleeper, awake!, Rise from the dead, and let Christ will shine upon you.  Amen.

755. I was wrong - he did much better

The presidential race has finally officially ended with the posting of Florida's Electoral College votes under the Obama column, an apparent win of 55,000 votes.  This brings the president's tally to 332 to 206.  A landslide, although not of the proportion of his first win against Senator John McCain.  Those numbers were 365-173.  In 2008, then-Senator Obama garnered 69,297,997 votes to McCain's 59,597,52.  Those numbers are higher than the turnout this year which presently show the president with 61,715,465 to Governor Romney's 58,507, 338.  By either tally - the popular vote or the Electoral College, the one that counts, the 44th President of the United States has been re-elected.  Thanks Be To God.

Now, to be honest, that 332-206 tally is well above my prediction - or predictions.  One prediction had the president winning on the slimmest of margins - 270 to 268.  Then I went out on a limb and made it 271-267.  Wow was I wrong.  But, that's ok.  I erred on the side that Governor Romney did - that he would win the Independents - and he did.  What neither of us foresaw was the return to the polls of women and minorities for the president, and in particular Latinos, who wander in and out of both parties and political ideologies like the revolving door of a Wal-Mart.  Latinos voted for the president's re-election by 71%.  My guess is the Republican Party's hardlines on immigration have much to do with the swing in this body of voters.  Women voters were all over the board in the pre-election polling.  Prominent faux-pas by Republican candidates for the United States Senate helped many candidates up and down the tickets.  Women as a group had a great day with 10 new women, 9 Democrats and 1 Republican, joining the most exclusive club on earth.  When the polls closed, the president had also fared well with this decisive group of voters, receiving 55% of their ballots.

Young voters did not vote for the president in the numbers they did in 2008, but he still won the under-30 crowd, and especially in the swing states, where he improved his margins with the youth vote, of which he received 69%.

In the end, it was the swing states which won for the president.  This time they swung left with one exception, North Carolina.

My guess is the 2016 race will be much easier for the Democrats.  By that time both North Carolina and Texas will have become considerably "bluer" in political complexion.  Winning the Electoral College gets much easier if you can allocate early on the 38 votes from the Lone Star State or the 15 from North Carolina.

One more note - Kentucky.  Kentucky got redder.  In 2008 John McCain won Kentucky with 57.4% to Obama's 41.2.  Romney improved on that number getting 61% to the president's 38%.  In  some counties, the results defy reason.  Leslie County in southeastern Kentucky led the state percentage-wise for Governor Romney with  90% of the vote, 4439 to 433 - wow!  Other counties with high percentages for Romney were Owsley (87), Jackson (86), Clay (84), and several others (81).  The president carried only four counties in the Commonwealth, down from eight in 2008.  Only Jefferson gave him more than 50% with a tally of 186164 to 148415.  The other three winning for Obama were Fayette - 49 to 48%, Franklin - a near tie of 49% with the president besting Romney by 190 votes, and the always reliably Democratic Elliott County, where it was 49% to 47%.  Would these numbers were bluer.  Alas and alack.

Well, on to 2016.  At this point, I'm supporting Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland - but it's early.

754. A wild guess

A few days back I posted my Electoral College prediction for next Tuesday's election.  That has the president winning the college vote 270 to 268 - a win is a win.

Today's entry is my prediction for the race between Congressman John Yarmuth and his Republican opponent. 

I've shared this with a few people including the congressman in a phone text sent on November 1.  There is an error in the percentages, pointed out by my friend Stuart Perelmuter, as they do not take into account any votes received by the third candidate in the race, another man whose name I cannot recall, or any write-ins.  So much for precision.

Here are my predictions for the two standard-bearers.

John Yarmuth - 211430
His Republican Opponent - 150103

Like I said, a wild guess.  We'll see.

Three more days.

753. A Constitutional discussion on Facebook

 What follows is a discussion copied from my Facebook page, one which followed a post I made about the silence of certain folks in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

 First, some identification of those involved in the discussion, in order of appearance, other than me.

Thomas A. "Tony" McAdam is an attorney in downtown Louisville.  Tony and I have been friends many years.  We also disagree in large degrees as to the administration of the Republic and other issues of national concern.

Bob Layton is an attorney and Democratic Party activist in Fayette County.

Tyler Hess is in his young 20s and is an environmental activist and student of sustainable agriculture.

Dorothy Howard is a Facebook friend, the older sister of a women with whom I attended elementary and high school, and a Democrat.

Jeremy Tyler is a 25 year old libertarian/Republican supporter of Ron Paul.  He is an Econ/PoliSci graduate of the University of Louisville.

Will Cox is an attorney in Madisonville where he recently served a term as Mayor and before that as Councilman.

 Ken Stammerman is a retired State Department official, a 1965 graduate of Bellarmine College who has recently undertaken lay studies at nearby Saint Meinrad School of Theology.

Read through the arguments and comment if you wish.

  -- Jeff

My original post -- 

The small government and anti-government libertarian and Tea Party folks are noticeably quiet today. The only person we've heard from was, all of people, Bush's FEMA Director Mike "Helluva Job" Brown, who criticized President Obama for responding too quickly to Sandy, something no one accused Bush or Brown of doing with Katrina. An interesting quietude of their part.

Thomas A. McAdam James Madison is the acknowledged father of the constitution. In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees who fled from insurrection in San Domingo to Baltimore and Philadelphia. James Madison wrote disapprovingly, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." I will gladly contribute from my meager treasure to aid the sufferers of this storm, but I think it is clear that the constitution does not allow the federal government to coerce citizens into paying for disaster relief. It is not a question of compassion. It is a question of the rule of law. Either we support and defend our constitution, or we don't. And if we don't, God help us.

Jeff Noble Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 - The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

Bob Layton Now, Jeff. If you're going to actually quote the Constitution to those who say they're defenders of the Constitution, it's just going to cause all kinds of problems. Next you'll be expecting them to actually read the Constitution they're defending!

Tyler Hess I'm definitely fine with not supporting the Constitution Tom. I don't support it on its unacknowledgement of the rights of more than half of this country. Written by elitist white men, it is a document that is old and putrid for use in the 21st century. I am for a society based on moral interdependence of social human beings, rather than an abstract wrinkly racist piece of paper.

Dorothy Howard Yep! Jeff, I wish more folks would read the whole constitution. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I am so sick and tired of people who claim they love their country and all the time go around hating on the best aspects of our country...

Thomas A. McAdam James Madison advocated for the ratification of the Constitution in The Federalist and at the Virginia ratifying convention upon a narrow construction of the clause, asserting that spending must be at least tangentially tied to one of the other specifically enumerated powers, such as regulating interstate or foreign commerce, or providing for the military, as the General Welfare Clause is not a specific grant of power, but a statement of purpose qualifying the power to tax.

Thomas A. McAdam In fairness, I should add that in the last 70 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has tended to agree with Jeff's broad interpretation of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1. More's the pity.

Jeff Noble Hat tip.

Dorothy Howard Well....Thomas, when you are mugged don't call those tax funded police, when your house is on fire don't call those tax funded firemen, when you fly on an airplane don't expect the tax funded air traffic controllers to keep you out of harms way, etc.

Thomas A. McAdam And, I am sorry Tyler does not support our constitution. That is his right, but I'm not sure he can call himself a loyal American if he refuses to protect and defend the constitution.

Thomas A. McAdam Dorothy unwittingly confabulates the police powers of the states (health, welfare, safety & morals) with those limited and enumerated powers of the federal government. My argument is that the national government does not have the constitutional authority to provide disaster relief. Clearly, the states have that authority.

Jeff Noble Tyler, while I agree with you that the document was written by the hands and minds of privileged white men in the 18th Century, by design it is a flexible instrument. It is why, as Mr. McAdam points out above, recent interpretations are different from what may have been acceptable in the 1780s. That judicial review is not implicit in the Constitution left open the question of how to defend the Constitution. That was answered by the Court itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison. Since that day, the Constitution has been a breathing, living document able to be interpreted by the women and men serving on the Court in contemporary times, whenever those times may be. What is acceptable and Constitutional today may be overturned in 1, 5, or 30 years. The design works, albeit sometimes too slow and at other times too fast. The Republic has not lasted 237 years by clinging to an inoperable and unchangeable Constitution. It has survived by being changeable.

Dorothy Howard  Perhaps....but one could also argue that providing disaster releif is providing for the common defense.

Jeremy Tyler I'm never sure when I say that something is not constitutional, why it is that people resort to bringing up police and fireman, as if that has anything to do with the constitution other than it being something that the state handles. 

Democratic President Grover Cleveland vetoed a bill in 1887 that would have provided seed for farmers in drought-stricken Texas. In his veto message he stated: 

"I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people." 

He also said that aid from Washington only "encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character." He then offered money from himself personally to help the farmers.  

Jeff Noble . . . or the general welfare.

Dorothy Howard So shall we do away with the FBI, Secret Service, ATF, Border Patrol, etc?

Jeff Noble It can be safely assumed, based on their statements in this thread, that McAdam and Jeremy differ with the Court's 1803 decision in Marbury v. Madison.

Thomas A. McAdam Not everything we may want the government to provide for us is authorized by our constitution. We can alter it, of course (and have done so many times), but if we abandon it, we do so at our peril. The constitution not only insures our rights and freedom, but it protects us from a tyrannical and oppressive government. If we destroy its limitations, we also lose its protections. We are either a nation of laws, or a nation of men. Which would you prefer?

Jeff Noble That's from the Jaycee creed. I remember it. The answer is a hybrid. We are a nation of laws written and agreed to by men and women.

Will Cox So "Brownie" is criticizing the President for moving TOO quickly??? Really?? You can't make that stuff up ...

Thomas A. McAdam I respect Jeff's view of constitutional history, but I must warn against the "living and breathing" metaphor. The framers had recent experience with tyranny, and intended the constitution to be amendable, but otherwise immutable. In my lifetime, the courts have stretched the constitution to discover a "right of privacy" that allows a woman to kill her unborn child ("emanations from a penumbra"), and have allowed governments to seize private property for private (not public) use. Stretched to the point of breaking. As Thomas Moore said, in A Man For All Seasons: "And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

Jeremy Tyler If you look at many of the constitutional conventions when the constitution was going through to process to be ratified, many of the people that were skeptical were assured over and over again by the federalists that the necessary clause, interstate commerce clause, and general welfare clause was not to be broadly interpreted and were only to be applied by the specific powers that were enumerated to the Federal government. Even then the skeptics demanded the Bill of rights to be passed for further security. 

Jeff, yes you're right. I never cared much for John Marshall. 

Dorothy, some of those departments could be argued for defense. But I also think some of those cause more insecurity than security. I also could see a argument where those would not be allowed when following the constitution, especially considering some of the trouble some departments have caused.

Jeremy Tyler Jeff and Thomas on the comment about being governed by men. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” James Madison, Federalist Paper 51.

Ken Stammerman We are a community, living under a living Constitution that means what the Supreme Court says it means, taking the broad principles written into it by the founders and reinterpreting them in a world the founders could never have imagined. With wise judges named to the bench, the Executive can both be empowered to innovate on matters unthought of centuries ago, and limited in its ability to intrude on citizens' rights in ways unimaginable in those days. The Legislature should have the wisdom to consent or reject justices who will respect personal freedoms while not tying the executive in a straitjacket of limitations on government action suitable to a nation of a landed aristocracy and yeomen farmers. The Constitution has been amended to remove provisions in the original, which saw a nation, for example, allowing human bondage and limiting suffrage by wealth and gender. As well, it expanded the power of the Executive to tax via the income tax. But in a fast-paced modern world, the ambiguities written into the Constitution by, for example, the 14th Amendment and the commerce clause, allow the flexibility for the Court to move faster than the amendment process would ever have allowed in outlawing Jim Crow or permitting the economic policies of the New Deal. And that is as it should be.

Thomas A. McAdam How fortunate Jeff is, to have so many clever and articulate friends. A seeker of wisdom and truth could ask for nothing more.

Thomas A. McAdam Actually, I find myself in agreement with Ken's summary of constitutional evolution. Must check my meds.

Jeff Noble True. I was just thinking the same thing as to our clever and articulate friends. And, importantly, the two Tyler's in this discussion, Jeremy Tyler and Tyler Hess, are young men, among the next generation of women and men to whom our collective futures are entrusted. We are fortunate for their concern and interest, irrespective of whether we agree with their positions. While I am throwing accolades at Tyler's and our future, I'd be remiss not to include another one, Tyler Montell.

Thomas A. McAdam I find a certain amount of comfort in Jeff's observation that the future of our republic, after all, just might be in good hands. My generation has not been so successful. Good luck, guys!

752. 270-268.

http://www.270towin.com/2012_election_predictions.php?mapid=UxN

I've been playing with these Electoral College maps all summer. All of my predictions have had the president being re-elected with either 270, 271, or 272 Electoral College votes. I've decided this is my final map and the president wins with 270.

I have him winning California, Connecticut, Delaware, D. C., Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. And he may not win the popular vote. Thoughts?

751. On the passing of Melanie Denise Lewis

MELANIE DENISE LEWIS (1972-2012)

We buried Melanie today.  She was 40.  Melanie was the mother of two of my three nieces and two of my three nephews.  She and my brother had an off-again, on-again relationship for nearly twenty years.  It wasn't all pretty and it wasn't all bad.  Melanie had demons like all of us and the cause of her death at such a young age may have been related to one of those demons.  Ultimately it was a stroke which ended her young life.

Over the years, Melanie was sometimes quiet around me but never rude.  I can attest that she was a good cook.  For a few years, she and my brother lived in my home - and I never went hungry.  Later, when they lived on Harlan Avenue, I was often treated to a plate of fried chicken, green beans, sweet potatoes, greens, and lots of other good cooking.  I never turned it down; it was always good.

But I know she caused problems for my brother over the years.  For most of the last ten years, he has raised the youngest three of their children on his own.  While she wasn't present in the house, she was never far off, never more than a few blocks away.  She saw her children on a regular basis, including the day before she fell ill with the stroke.

It is never good when a parent has to bury their child as Melanie's mother, Vera, did today.  Nor can it be good that my youngest nieces and nephews, ages 9, 11, 13, and 17 today laid their mother to rest.  It was very sad.  While there are lots of reasons to wish this day had never happened, she is now at peace.

May her soul and the souls of all the departed rest - rest in peace.

750. Biden v. Ryan, briefly

That was a very good debate. And, to be honest, the congressman presented well. But his good presentation presented very little in the way of real plans or real reforms. I'm reminded of something my high school English teacher, Brenda Risner, wrote in my senior year book, taken from Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" comparing Substance versus Superficiality. The substance in this debate, time and time again, came from the Vice President. Yes, I am biased, but clearly Biden won this very well contested discussion. The president must be proud and confident, but also feeling a little upstaged by his Second-In-Command. Way to go, Joe!

749. Reflections

It has been not quite a month since I've written.  The entries are getting further apart than I have ever intended.  Two, maybe three, things are driving this - my general ennui about much of everything and not feeling well at all, something that has been going on since well before the last entry.  And then there is Facebook, an instant gratification vehicle for writers in search of an audience, something all writers are in search of or we wouldn't be writing.

So, let this entry serve as a catch-up of things, and a reflection of those things.  I had prepared but not posted a different entry #749 entitled "Charlotte on a whim."  Its purpose was to explain how I came about attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte the first few days after Labor Day.  That entry, if posted, would have included a discussion about the drive to and from the destination, which took me, briefly, from Louisville to Lexington to Knoxville to Asheville to Charlotte.  The return trip was similar but, in keeping with the well-established rules, not exactly the same path.

While the entire visit was fun, there were highlights.  I got to meet, for the second time, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, whom I had met the first time in 2010 not long after his election.  But his role in national politics has risen considerably since that first meeting at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio.  Naturally, indulging in Facebook-instant gratification, I posted a picture of the handsome young mayor taken in front of the Capital Lounge, an upscale eatery at 2nd and Tryon streets in downtown Charlotte.  Hanging out with my congressman, John Yarmuth, I got to meet a few members of the House and one member of the Senate, Al Franken of Minnesota, and, again, there is a Facebook pic.  It was all a happy event.

My return home and subsequent weeks were fairly uneventful leading up to what would be yet another birthday on September 23rd, my 52nd.  As many of my seven faithful readers know, I do like to celebrate birthdays, or birthweeks, or even birthmonths if I can get away with it.  That had been my plan.

*****

Earlier today I drove out to Evergreen Cemetery, a well-established tract of land just south of the Watterson Expressway along the eastside of Preston Highway, first established about 100 years ago.  My purpose was to find the grave of a dear friend, Curtis Lee Heckel, who was buried Monday.  I had attended his visitation on Sunday but could not make the funeral the next day.  Curtis, who was 24, died in an automobile accident very early Wednesday morning, September 19th.  The accident occurred on IN60 near Carrwood Road just outside the town of Borden, Indiana in northern Clark County.  One other person was killed and two others were injured.

All the happiness of the previous month evaporated in an instant with his death.  I had seen him about seven hours prior to his death at the downtown McDonald's at 2nd and Broadway.  He was with the other three persons who were still with him the next morning.  While he wasn't driving, it was his car which crossed the center line headed eastbound (back toward Louisville) and was struck by two different oncoming vehicles.  I visited the site Friday afternoon looking, darkly, for mementos, one of which had a connection between the two of us which I located in the weeds along the roadside.

I had not visited a crash site in over 21 years.  The last one was located at the intersection of Standiford Lane and Preston Highway, immediately in front of Evergreen Cemetery where Curt has been laid to rest.  That was for another friend, Rob Spears, killed in an automobile accident early on a Wednesday morning, July 24, 1991.  I have never forgotten Rob in all of these years and often visit his gravesite at Rest Haven Cemetery in southcentral Jefferson County.

The bend in the road where Curt lost his life is one I have seen many times over the years, including once with Rob 22 years ago.  My brother lived in Borden for a while and I visited him several times.  On one of those occasions, Rob, at my brother's request, drove my brother's 1986 Firebird back to my house from Kevin's mobile home.  Another friend, Keith Dickerson, lived in Borden off and on for a while as he worked the farmlands up on top of Saint John Hill, home to the various orchards of the intermingled Stumler and Huber families.  Again, I made the trek back and forth several time between here and there.  I always notice the highway sign on westbound (but technically northbound) IN60, right after IN111 comes to an end at Bennettsville.  It reads "Borden 9, Salem 23."  Those two numbers represent my birthday.  A small thing, but the sign remains.  I noticed it again as I went to see the site where Curt died.  I will miss him.  I still miss Rob.  Rest In Peace, Curtis Lee Heckel.  Good night, sweet prince.

748. A Tale of Two Pauls

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

So begins a magnum opus of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.  You may have, as I did, read (all or) part of it in high school or college literature.  It is, like most Dickensian works, a meandering tale with a heavy dose of woe, set against the national backdrop of the time, in this case the French Revolution.  The two cities are London - where things are mostly good, and Paris - where things aren't.

Using a bit of blogospheric license, I've adapted that title to this entry concerning the present Republican Party.  And using the preamble of the book above, it is clear that the GOP is encountering - or, perhaps, enduring, the best and worst of times.  There is certainly some truth to the final phrase, "the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

The hyperbole from both sides of the aisle is flowing freely this week.  As a Democrat, I'll choose to be critical of the Republicans at this time.  I may take up some criticism of my own Party, which certainly has its own problems, at a later date.  The operative word in the previous sentence is may.  It is my blog; I may not.

Yesterday the Republicans formally nominated their favored son, Mitt Romney, as their nominee - how deep the favor runs is thought by many to be "not very."  The truth is he isn't.  The Republican Party, whose tent has grown in some degree and shrunk in another, now seems to have two favored sons, neither of whom is their nominee for president.  One of them was, or perhaps still is, a candidate for president, while the other is presently seeking - at the same time - two federal offices, one of congressman, the other as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate.  The former celebrated his 77th birthday last week; the latter, if he is elected vice president, would turn 43 the week after his inauguration.

The irony is that the younger of the two has the strong support of the majority of the old line of the Party, thus ensuring his place on the ticket.  The base for the older, however, is a mostly younger, more independent and libertarian crowd, and in a few other respects far out of lockstep with the national Party, something they learned last night isn't encouraged now or in the future as the convention approved rule changes making it harder for non-traditional candidates to amass delegates, something their hero did to the tune of 190 votes.

The question is this - as the national Republican Party recedes more deeply into the most conservative of corners of the political prism, it does seal the support of many across a broad spectrum of ideologies within the Party, pushing those with less conservative and more moderate views into a camp and creed where they may find comfort in this campaign against this particular Commander-In-Chief, but one wonders if they can keep them content for the next quadrennial contest.

Then there is the other camp.  It is college-age in general and on board because of a personality, one which has been around since I was their age, capturing imaginations for the future, but also one which has pushed not necessarily to the right but toward the apolitical, or even the fringes, dare I say, of the anarchic.  I know a few in this camp.  I recently queried one, a recently married 24 year old with a degree in Economics and History, as to his identification with the Republican Party.  His response was, in part, "I don't give two shits about the Republican Party . . . . "  My belief is he isn't the only one in his current camp who feels this way.  Another friend, who two years ago left the Democratic Party, has recently told me he may return.

It isn't that these young folks - people who will be running the Republic one day - are anymore comfortable in my Party than they are in their current one; it is rather my Party has a wide enough berth in its beliefs and its adherence or non-adherence to those beliefs that they may be more comfortable.  (I will add here that I am very aware of some in my Party who are just as intolerant of the Republicans and other conservatives and they seem to be of us.  That isn't part of the plan but it is a reality which must be admitted to.)

Thus, as the Republican nominee and his running mate make their way out of Tampa amid the pomp and circumstance of a national convention and into the nitty-gritty of the last seventy days of a campaign, it remains to be seen if theirs will be a tale of the two Pauls, or if one is jettisoned along the way, along with its cadre of young and enthusiastic supporters.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . . . ."

746. Lunatics At Large

Some of my seven faithful readers may recall this entry's name as that of a play written by James Reach in 1936 and performed at least once here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 by the thespian troupe in the Class of 1976 at my high school alma mater, Sallie Phillips Durrett High School, in its erstwhile location on Preston Highway.  It was a grand play complete with a butler who may (or may not) have been the murderer.  But this entry isn't about that.

This entry is about the word itself, lunatics, with an etymology related to the moon, from the old Latin word luna.  It is also related to other "l" words such as lumen, lux, and light.  Those who are followers or worshippers of the moon, or specifically moonlight, have been known to be called lunatics, although not in the best of light.  Ha!  Last night as I sat with friends enjoying a sarsaparilla at one of those Baxter Avenue shebeens (although this one was licensed), we discussed the upcoming phase of the moon, the full moon.  But, first, something else.

Tomorrow, August 1, is a holiday of sorts in the pagan world, and extended into the non-pagan world, especially in the British Isles.  It is Lammas Day, a feast of the first wheat harvest.  The word itself is a contraction of sorts, on Loaf and Mass, thus the wheat harvest yielded a loaf of bread, something for which to be thankful.  Another bit of trivia related to the day is that one of the Bard's most famous characters was born on Lammas Day Eve, which is today.  Do you know who she was?

Tomorrow also marks a full moon, the "full sturgeon moon" at least in America, so named for the fish which are abundantly caught during the month, especially in the Great Lakes of the great midwest.  Having a full moon on August 1 will also afford one of those moons we've all heard of but may not really know what they are.  "Once in a blue moon!"  You've heard the expression, no doubt, meaning "not very often."  The name has come to be applied to the third of four full moons within a quarter of the lunar year.  In lay terms, that is usually interpreted as a second full moon in any given month.  August 31 will bring us a second full moon for the month of August, a blue moon according to the legend.

To begin a month and end a month with full moons is certainly something to be celebrated, notwithstanding the pagan celebration of Lammas Day, also tomorrow.

Need something more to celebrate, at least on August 1?  My maternal grandmother, Vivian "Tommie" Hockensmith, was born on this date in 1916.  She died in 1976.  Another dear friend of most of my life, Mary-John Celletti, will also be celebrating the anniversary of her nativity tomorrow.  I know the year of her birth, but, alas, I'll keep it to myself for now. 

Happy Lammas Eve!  Celebrate. 

745. Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District, St. Louis, New Hampshire, and Iowa

Clearly, there is a thread of wanderlust in my postings - wandering through county highways and rural backroads, and the occasional longer trip to Washington, DC at 606 miles in 9 hours and 23 minutes, or to Kentucky's annual summer political event, Fancy Farm, which at 237 miles sometimes seems to be even farther and takes longer.  But my seven faithful readers know that most of journeys are within the borders of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, my native state, my resides state (to use an adjective mostly found in reference to where one normally attends classes in the Jefferson County Public Schools system).

There have been a few times in my life that I've thought about leaving Kentucky but I've always found a reason (or excuse) to stay, putting off dreams, short-changing new opportunities at the expense of a comfortable surrounding not too far away from Mom's house.  That isn't, however, the advice I offer to my friends, especially my younger friends.  My advice to them has always been to go and see and do things elsewhere, outside your comfort zone, and perhaps outside the comfort zone of others.  Outside of reading about new and different places in a book as a good education, the better one is to go experience those things for yourself firsthand.

Back in the winter months, a dear friend of mine did just that, charting for himself a political path that has taken him to New England, South Carolina, and Nevada in a presidential campaign thought by some to be quixotic; and then later in Texas and, notably, Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District not working for a campaign but rather for one of those SuperPACs we've all come to know and hate.  He began this journey just shy of his 23rd birthday with my strong encouragement.  And while I have not been pleased with the political ramifications of his work - we don't agree on politics - I am impressed with his ambition and happy for his future that he has undertaken such wandering.  He has also learned that notoriety, something you gain by doing and being different and especially if your doing and being is successful as his has been, works both ways, something they don't teach you in college.  I've been on him for some time to finish college, but I am acutely aware that he is getting a great education through his current travels.

Another friend, 23 earlier this year, has for the summer only, as he will be commencing law school next month, taken a similar jaunt, this one to Saint Louis - specifically Webster Groves, 270 miles almost due west of Louisville along I-64.  He, too, is engaged in political work, in this case for the reelection of the 44th President of the United States, an effort I strongly support.  Missouri, where he is working, was hoping to have a more active role in the 2012 presidential sweepstakes, a role it has played in the past but is doing less so this time around.  Saint Louis was one of the cities in the running for this year's Democratic National Convention but lost out to Charlotte, North Carolina, a city located in one of the nine infamous swing states, where most if not all of the remaining 2012 campaign for president will decided.  Similarly, Washington University in Saint Louis, which has been a national debate site for two decades, finds itself debate-less in this cycle.  Still, the work my friend is engaged in is far bigger than the 2012 presidential election.  It will gain for him an insight into life and work and friends and opportunities in a new place, as well as memories for a lifetime.  And, there has to be some satisfaction in being able to say "I was a staffer in the president's re-election campaign."  Very few political types, at any level, will ever be able to utter those words.

Yet another friend who just turned 32, someone I've known about eight years, a native of Spencer County and graduate of the University of Kentucky, has left the warm and stormy weather here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 for the cooler and more comfortable climes of New Hampshire.  Unlike the previous two in this essay, I'm not too clear for whom or what he is working in the state and I had no role in his plan.  New Hampshire is an interesting state politically, although like Missouri, getting less so.  Geographically, the western and southwestern parts of the state lean Democratic and the northern and southeastern parts Republican.  It looks to be a Red State this November if present polling is correct.  Governor Romney's candidacy is bolstered by that of Ovide Lamontagne, the Republican candidate for governor, who is far better known to the electorate than others (in any party) seeking the governor's office.  Maybe my friend is there to address that - I really do not know.  He has worked in presidential and other federal campaigns all across the country over the years.  What I do know is that he is on his way to another adventure.

Finally, another friend, in his early 40s, is packing up an old Jeep van, one he just bought three days ago, and is preparing a drive to Ames, Iowa.  Ames, Iowa and Washington, DC are nearly the exact same distance from Louisville, but the similarity ends there.  Ames is dead center in the state, located about 30 miles north of the capital at Des Moines.  It is a college town, home to Iowa State University.  And it tends to be a swing-city politically, but unlike all the other places above, swings, if at all, just slightly to the Democrats.  Ames is also, since the 2010 Congressional redistricting, now in Iowa's 4th Congressional District.  Iowa lost a district in that process and the "new 4th" while drastically changed is still largely a safe Republican district.  Running for re-election to the Congress from that district is the current 5th District Congressman Steve King.  Chances are, if you are one of my regular readers, Congressman King has at one time or another, and in all likelihood on several different occasions, offended you.  Pick a subject, any subject, and he has made offensive remarks on the matter.  My friend is going there to work for a SuperPAC, one which seeks to end Congressman King's congressional career.  My best wishes to them and my friend on that assignment.  One person they might find as a friend in this campaign, maybe, is a name, maybe, familiar to readers of the Courtier-Journal and Louisville Times, Michael Gartner.  Mr. Gartner served as the first post-Bingham years editor of the Once Great Newspaper, but has since returned to his home state in his retirement years.  There he serves on the Iowa Board of Regents overseeing most of the state's higher educational institutions, is part-owner of a baseball team - always a good sign, and also operates an alternative weekly called Cityview, a la LEO, in Des Moines.  My guess is they don't like Steve King either.

The whole point of this post is not only to keep you informed on some of the movements of certain friends, but also to encourage my readers (and, hopefully me, too) to reach out, take chances, do and see and experience what you can while you can when you can.  For these four friends, the what, while, and when is now.

Happy Trails. 

744. Rest In Peace, Rob

Twenty-one years.

Rob Spears, 1973-1991.

May his soul and the souls of all who have passed from this life Rest In Peace.

743. A little more Louisville street trivia

This one may be too easy.  Curtis Morrison thought the last one was easy and quickly responded with an incorrect answer.

There are, to my knowledge, four answers to the following question.

Louisville is well known for streets which change names here and there.  We've previously written about such changes.  Most of the street name changes are at an intersection with some other street or, perhaps, a railroad.  Examples are Frankfort Avenue to Shelbyville Road (at Breckenridge Lane or Meridian Avenue), Breckenridge Lane to Chenoweth Lane (at Frankfort Avenue/Shelbyville Road), Baxter Avenue to Newburg Road (at Shady Lane) and Newburg Road to Buechel Bank Road (at Shepherdsville Road), Mt. Holly Road to West Manslick Road (at Fairdale Road), East Manslick Road to South Park Road (at Preston Highway), and Preston Street to Preston Highway (at Clark's Lane).  There are many others.  Some other of the name changes are the effects of road realignments.  Examples here include Saint Andrews Church Road to Greenwood Road (at Dixie Highway), 7th Street Road to Manslick Road and its companion, Berry Boulevard to 7th Street Road, Hill Street to Burnett Avenue (at Preston Street), and River Road to Bingham Way, technically an entirely new intersection that didn't exist before the realignment (and closure) of River Road from 1st Street to Preston Street.

Today's little quiz has four answers, or so I believe.  Here is the question:  Which streets change names in between intersections, that is in the course of the road after having intersected one street and before having intersected another?  the middle of a block, between two other street intersection, but not at an intersection.  One of these four sets of street names arguably doesn't fit because there should be a street where the name changes, it just doesn't exist.  Technically, the fourth one isn't really a name change.

So, what are the three (and arguably four) sets of names?  And, don't pull a Curtis and make a quick guess, unless you know you are right.  Although, to be fair, Curtis should get one of these right off the bat.

742. A little Louisville street trivia

There is only one answer to the question "which Louisville street intersects the following numbered streets in the following order - 4th, 5th, 9th, 7th?"  What is it?