Chief Justice Roberts

Once more Republicans have put a person they thought to be a follower of the Constitution onto the Supreme Court only to find that the person does not hold to conserative principles when the rubber meets the road.

Chief Justice Roberts ruled that the Commerce Clause could not be used to support Obamacare. The liberal judges were not pleased with this and Justice Ginsberg wrote a dissent saying so.

However, Chief Justice Roberts said he had a theory about how the act could be constitutional. He said it would be constitutional if the mandate was a tax. Therefore: he declared the act constitutional on that basis. He said he found a way for the act to survive.

This is judicial activism in an area that had never been done before. He, in essence, rewrote the act so that it was leagal.

Naturally, liberals are pleased with the outcome and republicans have once more found that the person they nominated joined the other side.

DW - A Study In Blackness

Everybody liked DW, a small quiet man, an engineer with a quick and ready smile. He dressed neat and well and wore polished brogans even though his walking in the factory could sully or mar them. He was the only black engineer in our work group and his expertize on his assigned equipment gave value to our quality and productivity.

Our customer Excel, located in Pikeville, Tennessee, was having trouble with our motors and it was my task to resolve the problem. Upon viewing the equipment Excel used in conjunction with our motors, it was obvious to me that they could use some engineering help from our staff. I asked the engineering manager if I could use DW to get this problem under control. He agreed to the assignment and I talked to DW about coming with me to Pikeville.

The trip involves a five hour drive from Columbus, MS, through Alabama, through a small corner of Georgia, and into central Tennessee. I had done this a number of times which includes staying for a night in Chattanooga, TN. I was surprised when DW refused to go on this trip. He was always so accommodating with other requests, and here was a pleasant trip which many others would like to do, and he refused. I asked the engineering manager to help me convince DW that he was needed and should go.

We sat down with DW and asked him why he did not want to go with me and help Excel. It turned out that DW had never been out of Mississippi, spent his whole life in this State. He was wary of leaving it. He had read about the bad things that happened to blacks in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. It was difficult for me to believe that he was absolutely more comfortable in Mississippi, a State that had so much bad press about the treatment of blacks in the past, (the Emmit Till case for one, which happened not more than forty miles from Columbus) yet, he believed in Mississippi safety.

Our assurances that it was absolutely safe in these days and that all the horrible stories were now in the past did not change his mind. I asked specifically what his fear was about and he responded that his Grandaddy had always told him to never, never, ever trust the white man, and he always listened to his Grandaddy. Here was an educated, accomplished, black engineer who was directly influenced by the experiences of a black in the thirty's, forty's and the fifty's. I am confident that the fear his Grandaddy had about the white man was justified, yet, I expected modern day changes to actually change the attitude of blacks. DW's fear was passed down from his Grandaddy and I believe DW still has that fear. It is going to take a very long time to convince some blacks to think of themselves only as Americans.

A Crushing Blow

There are things that should never be said even though we are blessed with free speech. A gentrified society is one that uses language arts to insure that no one is offended, yet, truth is always spoken. Hence the common phrase: "Bless her heart" usually uttered after saying a truth which is critical of the actions or behavior of some individual.

The other day Pat said to me: "Your nipples have dropped." This was news to me and, as I pondered what that meant, it all became confusing. Was this merely an innocent comment about an observation or was there something deeper meant. Should I exercise more? Should I hold my shoulders back more? Then again, females with this type of problem are able to use a common bra to keep others in the dark about their condition. But what does a man do?

Does anyone ever say this to a woman, "Your nipples have dropped." I don't think so. Or, "Her nipples have dropped." even if accompanied by: "Bless her heart." I do prefer our mixed company politeness in conversations in which offensive statements are avoided. There truly are some statements that should be avoided.

But then, a wife can sometimes assess what she sees and render information that is meaningful to her but confounding to a husband. Now, if I can only figure how to get those darn things up.

The Wreath

It started last year when John Gaughan decided, in honor of Kim, to set a funeral wreath out to sea from the beach in Longboat Key. He and a few others swam out a distance from the beach and when they were sure the wreath would not go back to the beach they set it free to go to sea.

This past week Bob Meagher decided to duplicate that ceremony with a wreath for Debbie. There were about thirty of us watching from the beach as Bob brought the wreath down to the shore. Mitchel and his son, Colton, said they would accompany him in the swim. Bob wanted to go alone but Mitch overruled him. Bob was wearing a large, heavy shirt that had a picture of Debbie painted on it.

Just before sunset they set out, Bob insisted on handling the wreath. While swimming out Mitch noticed that Bob was having some trouble swimming with one arm and pushing the wreath forward. He offered to do some of that work but Bob refused. He was crying and very emotional about doing this. Mitch and Damon started to keep one arm under Bob because they could see he was tiring. It was obvious that the heavy paint on the shirt was pulling Bob down and Mitch told him to take it off. He would not take it off, he wanted to do this his way.

Whenever the wreath was released it came back to them and they were forced to swim farther out. By this time Bob was getting very weak but he was determined to continue, and to do it without yielding the wreath to Mitchel. It was then that Mitchel realized that Bob did not care if he drowned in this heroic act for Debbie. A few times Bob was going down but Mitch and Damon held him up by his bathing suit. He was swallowing water but they kept him up. Finally, the wreath drifted away from them and they started back for the shore. Mitch told me: "If he had have gone out there by himself he would not have come back."

Obama? Why not!

Six months before the 2008 election electors were asking themselves, for whom should I vote? Those weakly and non-aligned to political parties had a choice to make and many chose to do the right thing for America. Seeing the acrimony caused by charges of racism in this country, and wanting it to stop, here was a chance to prove to everyone, and to the world, that this country was not racist. Here was the opportunity to show that the sentiments of Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, who always claimed that white America did not give blacks a chance, were wrong and if the highest job in America was given to a black it would show all that America was not racist as they claimed.

Some Republicans reasoned that McCain was always working with the Democrats, always reaching across the isle, had the same sentiments with them as; large government, unenforced borders, easy citizenship for illegals, global warming, and judicial activism. Just how much difference was there really between them? Why not vote for Obama and get over this huge racist hurdle this country will have to jump eventually.

The Mah-ha-rushie (Rush Limbaugh) warned against this reasoning. He said that charges of racism would not diminish but would in fact increase. As he always says, he knows liberals and how they think and act. His major statement: "Don't doubt me" was added at the end. To my way of thinking he was wrong. Of course race relations would get better when all blacks would see that white America helped put a black into the presidency. It was obvious that any charge of racism after that could always undercut the person making it by saying: "Hey, not true, didn't we put a black into the highest job in the land?"

Soon after the election we discovered that any disagreement with Obama was racist. All presidents have their detractors and suffer some people that do not see eye-to-eye with them. But this was a new kind of politics, a politics where many blacks were given a deck of race cards to play. Those decks were not restricted to blacks but got wide distribution to white liberals who gleefully played them. Alas, Rush was right, it did get worse. Now, if you do not agree that Obama has a nice personality, a beautiful wife and family, is a great guy, has a good heart, has leadership qualities that no one has ever had before; well you are a racist.

And so here we are, four years later, with a country divided along race lines as never before, being faced with the job of telling him that he must go. We must tell him that there is not enough money to do all the things he wants do. We must tell him that we do indeed like out form of government and not the form that he has imposed. We must tell him that we like our presidents to like this Country as we do. We do this by electing his opponent.

One Has Changed

Today, while having breakfast at McDonald's, I met a black Unitarian preacher. He was quoting scripture to me (chapter, verse and the lesson) and I listened intently. He had personal stories to go along with his preaching and witnessing. He held my interest and I found myself entertained. His son, about ten years old, was sitting next to him completely immersed in his ipod. It all reminded me about Mark Hoeksema and how his children acted when their dad would cover religion with a stranger.

When I got the floor I told him about Mark and how he did exactly what he was doing, ignoring the son while going on a preaching rant. I told him that later Mark's children rebelled against much of his teaching and it was tearing Mark apart because he wanted the best for his children. It was then that the preacher told me how he had the same experience as Mark. His oldest son rejected him when he got of age and left the family. At this time his son is serving seven years at an out of state prison. When he visits his son, the son tells him sorry he is because he did not follow his father's teaching. At this time the two are reconciled.

The preacher teaches in the public school system and I failed to ask what grade he teaches. He has a Doctorate in Education and has a complaint that he does not get paid as much as a medical doctor. From here we covered medical insurance and quality health care. His insurance has gone up and this has him feel betrayed. He voted for Obama because he thought health care would be made available for all. The reality has hit him and he stated he will not be voting for Obama again.