I haven’t forgotten the day my father looked at me and said it was too bad my grandfather wasn’t there to help us.
“My dad would know what to say and how to say it better than I do.”
My father spoke of his father in glowing terms, though he did have his criticisms of him too so in some ways his comment made sense.
But that moment jumps out at me because it was so very unexpected. Dad didn’t have many moments where he didn’t have an idea or opinion in certain areas and this was one of them.
Something about it jumped out at me today because my mother shared something that made the vein on my forehead begin to pop out.
If you want to know whether I am truly angry that vein is a pretty good tell.
As I learned the details I heard my father’s voice again, “I want you to look out for your mom and your sisters. Go live a good life, be happy.”
It wasn’t the last thing he said to me, but it is close enough. I would naturally look out for mom and my sisters anyhow, but that promise accentuates it.
And it all ties into the answer to the question of who do I write for.
Corruption In The Court
Writing is a tool I use to communicate thoughts and ideas. Sometimes I do it solely for myself so that I gain more clarity in how I feel about something and build a roadmap to move myself from points A, B and C to past Q and R.
Other times I try to reach others so that I can motivate them to engage in action. It could be as simple as saying take my hand or as complex as asking them to join me in a comprehensive project to impact and affect legislation.
I have spent a chunk of time since the court’s ruling on Roe V. Wade considering what actions I want and need to take.
It is disturbing to see justices adopt partisan positions that are also specific to their religious faith and to use those to impose laws upon hundreds of millions of people.
That is not a system of checks and balances.
That’s tyranny of the majority by a minority and something that looks very much like corruption in the court.
It is made worse by their acknowledgment that this is the first salvo in an attack on the rights of millions more and it raises significant questions about their end game and understanding of the ramification of their actions.
They have rocked the confidence people have and and or had in the court.
Given that one of the leaders of this attack has a spouse who appears to have actively tried to overturn a legal election it is impossible not to be very concerned.
Supreme court justices aren’t subject to a vote. We don’t get to decide every 2, 4 or 6 years that we are unhappy with their performance so this abuse of confidence is even more egregious.
It feels like an intentional slap in the face.
Is it arrogance or willful blindness that prevents them from recognizing or considering the great harm they have done and intend to continue.
It is not the sort of jurisprudence the country is used to nor the kind that leads to calm. It inflames and upsets the apple cart in ways that can lead to tremendous issues.
Pandora’s box is not so easily closed and in addition to my anger I am sorely concerned about the fire they have set.
Those who think them arbiters of liberty and not stewards play dangerous games.
I Know Things: Opportunity
Been thinking about a few other situations where I had hoped things would go a particular way and how it didn’t happen.
Spent part of that time evaluating why things did or did not happen because if you don’t take time to learn you may continue to miss taking advantage of similar opportunities when they appear again.
The hardest part with some of it is that it wasn’t based upon math or science. I couldn’t say they didn’t work because of I misplaced x where y should be or dropped the acid into the wrong beaker.
So I went with my gut on some of it and followed it as best I could even though I knew there was room for human error.
Been correct on a few and am in the process of finding out where things stand on the others. Ought to be interesting to see how it plays out.
In the interim the world has spun that giant roulette wheel again and now we get to see how it all plays out. Let’s do what we can to bump and nudge it like a pinball machine because this isn’t Vegas and we get to play a bigger role than silent watcher.
Can’t say where it will end up but I know if we don’t do what we can to take control of our destiny someone else will do it for us.
