It's Civil War of Minds and Hearts - With Some Unnecessary Pain, Suffering, and Death

Fortunately, there are no organized armies yet. There are shots being fired in mass shootings and attacks on unarmed People of Color, even when they peaceably assemble in church.

If you are a trump believer, all immigrants are brown and criminals. They "infest" and threaten "white culture." This is as if Jefferson Davis became President of the United States and spread the lies of slavery.

We need a new Lincoln. We need to stand for Union and Human Rights for all. We need to respect the dignity of People of Color who contribute wonderfully to this Great Nation. We need to denounce and fight every attempt to place the falsehood of "white culture" as the American Way.

Harriet Tubman, My Long-time, Historical Friend

Harriet, upon obtaining Freedom

It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. And Harriet Tubman will soon grace our twenty dollar bill. I rejoice as we've been friends for almost 50 years.

Scholastic Book Services was one of the great blessings of my childhood. My Mom loved reading and always scraped up some spare change to allow me one or two from the tantalizing list of books that my teachers at Thoreau Elementary gave me. In 1968, I believe in the Fifth Grade at 11 years of age, I chose a great one.

My Declaration of Opposition to Trump

States Rights has given us Slavery along with the 3/5 Compromise, the Electoral College, and Two Senators for every State. This resulted in the Civil War, Jim Crow, Segregation, and now, Donald Trump. As Joseph Smith said [paraphrased] States Rights Stink!

Slavery and the 3/5 Compromise have been banned and repealed by Amendments to the Constitution. Since the 17th Amendment, Senators are at least directly elected by the people of the states rather than the State Legislatures (thank Heavens!) The Electoral College serves no purpose if not needed to protect Slavery [thank Heavens again!]. There was some talk by the Founders that it would serve as a check to the election of a demagogue. 2016 establishes the failure of that idea with the irrationality of the faithless electors of 2016 who demonstrated no coherent plan to stop a demagogue.

Trump lost the popular vote by 2.8 million votes. That is significant. He is to be sworn in as president because of a modest win in the Electoral College after a huge loss in the popular vote. He is not our first president to do so. But the popular vote loss is embarrassing to him as no strong third or fourth party made him a plurality winner as happened in 1992 with Bill Clinton or in 1860 with Lincoln among numerous candidates receiving electoral votes. Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. I'm no big fan of Hillary, but her indiscretions pale in comparison to Trump.

And let's not forget why a President Trump would be such a problem:

For All Flesh

Norman Rockwell's, The Right to Know

On this election eve, there was a typically provocative tweet from a certain Ms. Coulter that if only those whose four Grandparents were born in the United States were allowed to vote, the vote would be a landslide for Donald Trump. My father would not be able to vote under this rule as his Grandfather was born in Britain.

I responded on Facebook and Twitter, and I repeat here.

This is what needs to change tomorrow. A multi-cultural majority nation will take the place of a White, Anglo-Saxon, Christian dominated nation. The Constitutional principles were intended for the universe of mankind. We can do this. Go, Latino Citizens! And ALL of us! WE the PEOPLE!

Yes, we elected a President eight years ago of mixed-race. Part of his ancestry went back to the European immigrants to this country. His father was from Kenya. The President was born in the State of Hawaii. His wife and daughters are the descendants of Slaves brought to this country by force.

"Fragments of Men, Rags of Anatomy" -Poetry of Henry Vaughan

Helmet from English Civil War

Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday has been a day of creeping dread, impatient expectation, and grasping at Hope. As Christ's body lie in the tomb and we believers, the Church, the Body of Christ, lie with Him. His Spirit yet lived and he journeyed in Spirit to proclaim liberty to the captive and set the prisoners free.

Death, war, pain, suffering; these are all things of this world. We share in them.

For this Saturday between Death and Life, I chose a poem of Cousin Henry Vaughan who as a doctor in the loyal Royalist forces of the English Civil War knew death, dismemberment, and suffering. It is a 17th Century Anti-War Poem.

My Old Friend with an Even Older Utah Connection

It was great reconnecting with a friend from when we were Scouts, say, 45 years ago! It was one of those where you can pick up a conversation left some forty years back and keep on going. A few circumstances and views have changed. And we still connect.

He's done some family history over the years. Even back before the internet made things so much easier. A picture of his 2nd-Great-Grandpa has a Utah connection:

Do you see what it says there on the back? "Camp Douglas, U.T. [Utah Territory] Jan 24th /66. Received Feb. the 17th."

Camp, now Fort Douglas, was established during the Civil War after the U.S. Troops abandoned Camp Floyd, in Utah County, as the Civil War approached. The principal military leader during Camp Douglas's early days was Colonel Patrick Connor of the 3rd California Volunteers sent to Utah to protect the overland trails and established Camp Douglas, uhm, maybe to keep a watch overlooking Brigham Young and the Mormons in the valley below. He is perhaps most famous, or infamous these days, for the Bear River Massacre against the Shoshone near the now Utah/Idaho border. But there was something about Utah than held him here if only as a thorn in Brigham's side to promote non-Mormon settlement and the mining industry. He also established a newspaper at Camp Douglas called the Union Vedette that was full of military, mining, and Mormon news. The latter, usually on the negative side. But it's still cool as an amazing, early historical source on the scene in Utah.

The Smaller the Government, the Muddier It Gets

Newly and Disgracefully Plowed Road at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon

There is a general belief that the smaller the government, the better. That is, unless you've ever been to an actual city council meeting or . . . let a bunch of dopey cowboys run a national wildlife refuge just for the heck of it.

Somebody thought it a good idea at Malheur to take a government bulldozer on their own authority and plow a new road through a formerly protected cultural resources site that had not been fully examined but is known to have significance to the local Malheur Paiutes who have, until armed yokels took over, had a pretty good working relationship with the federal government at the Refuge.

I'm no fan of the cumbersome bureaucracy of the federal government, believe you me. But it is a living as we try to sort out the laws and rules designed to give every participant a say and a fair shake in determining how the slow wheels of government grind ever so slowly forward, hopefully for the best. And there are many adequate opportunities for course correction through public participation in advisory councils, public rule-making, and Congressional action reflecting and balancing the interests of numerous constituents and their various group interests. Also, the President can act attempting to implement (or not) the Congressional mandates, with the Courts always available to hear challenges to the processes and decisions.

Malheur is Alcatraz, NOT Waco

A friend reminded me of a better comparison to the armed occupation by self-proclaimed militia at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge other than the debacle at Waco, Texas with the Branch Davidians. From November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1971, Alcatraz Island was occupied by militants of the American Indian Movement (AIM). They had a series of demands somewhat like the Malheurians about returning land to the "rightful" owners. The feds just waited them out. I still hope the Malheur confusion is resolved without getting anyone hurt even if it takes a year or so.

A remnant of the Indian Occupation now that the Island, and former Prison, have become a U.S. National Park.

I do sympathize with the Indians, or Native Americans, more than I do with the armed cowboys at Malheur. In fact, the local Paiutes have already stated their position that if the Wildlife Refuge is returned to anyone, it should be them. But history is a bit beyond that.

A Few Constitutional Provisions for the Illegal Militia at Malheur

It always helps when supposed patriots have actually read the Constitution. It takes more than just waving it around or carrying it in your pocket. Yes, there are arguments about interpretation that have been going on since it was written, but the whole point was the political processes established to work out our differences - not for any definitive answer necessarily - just the opportunity to keep us working together to govern ourselves as a nation. And that's pretty inspired, IMHO. Just check out some of these when you claim to be an anti-government constitutional patriot:

First of all, its purpose. No big secret here. It's right up front:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Then, there's this little gem we federal attorneys tend to like:

Grant V's Big Adventure

In Washington DC for a work-required conference, I had to travel to Main Interior to meet with someone on another work matter and call a Judge. So I hopped in our agency limo and headed downtown.

It wasn't really that big of an adventure as I started out at Main Interior some 30 years ago and somehow managed the commute back then. It's just that as I age, my life takes on more epic meaning and I have a Samsung S-6 to document the epicness:

Aparrently they are still working on our federal employee limo service

The Charleston Address

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

June 26, 2015

Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney

College of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina

2:49 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Giving all praise and honor to God.  (Applause.)
  

The Bible calls us to hope. To persevere, and have faith in things not seen.

“They were still living by faith when they died,” Scripture tells us. “They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth.”

We are here today to remember a man of God who lived by faith. A man who believed in things not seen. A man who believed there were better days ahead, off in the distance. A man of service who persevered, knowing full well he would not receive all those things he was promised, because he believed his efforts would deliver a better life for those who followed.

We're Not Done Yet!

"I'm not dead yet . . . . I feel happy. . . .I feel happy."

[Clonk]

Yeah, I can cut and paste more email with Anonymous/D. As long as I don't have to address the Republican clown car with Romney waiting aside the road for it to crash.

Grant Vaughn
to D

While still not blogging, and enjoying telework especially when I can't link to office computers, I note this for the record that there will at least be half a win for same-sex marriage.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. US Cons. IV.1.

That's pretty clear and concise language from the Constitution even if there is nary a word in there about marriage. If same-sex marriage is legal in one state, it has to be recognized in all just like they have for Nevada and Maryland quickie weddings (there used to be blood tests, etc. in most states). So, it they have to be recognized in all, some states just won't allow it to happen in that state - the wedding, that is, not the state of marriage.

Simple and straight forward preserving both the right for whomever to marry, and states rights, to some degree, in a federal union (of states - not gays)

A Cub Scout's Duty to Diversity

The new Cub Scout Handbooks are out!

This is really cool because my wife was on a national task force that re-wrote (simplified) the Cub Scout program. She has gone to BSA headquarters in Arlington, Texas (between Dallas and Ft. Worth) a few times. She's been on webcasts, provided training sessions at Philmont and any where else she gets asked. She explained the new program to a sell-out crowd (actually, no charge) at the old white church in Centerville (built 1879).

The main part my wife had to draft was the Bear requirements for religious participation. (BSA remains a faith-based organization). She worked hard to make sure it dove-tailed with the LDS Faith in God program, one of the more demanding religious awards, along with the awards of every other religion that works with Cub Scouting. While a faith-based organization, the BSA doesn't care what Faith or what God one worships. So, religious diversity is a big part of the training for boys and adults. As part of the diversity aspect of the religious portion of the Bear requirements is a family activity to discuss an important American religious figure.

My wife asked for my help on that one. So, putting on my thinking cap, my diverse knowledge of American History, and checking details with the internet (OK, yeah, a little bit of Wikipedia), I came up with the following in the attempt to simplify language for the understanding of a generic nine-year-old:

The Uncivil Cold War

A friend suggested (a few days before Furguson which I will not further address) that we have been in a Cold Civil War since 1865. What with Jim Crow, KKK, Separate but not really Equal, outright Segregation, and redlining neighborhoods, religious bans on black participation and mixed race marriage, unnecessary voter elegibility crack-downs, and the current conservative push to refuse economic help to the needy because they are either undeserving black criminals or welfare queens (thank you, Ronald Reagan), it seemed like an accurate assessment.

Unfortunately, the term is not unique and is all over the internet including from Glenn Beck, of all people, who cries crocodile tears for his part in tearing the country apart like some TV Evangelist caught with a woman or young boy. I'm not buying it from Glenn. And of course, he continues to stir the pot by predicting that somebody is going to go crazy and start something to turn us all into Civil War warriors and blow this country apart.

Uncle John in Union Blue?

He doesn't show up anywhere else and this seems to fit:

Third line down. It could very well be the John Lewis (1822) who was married to Jane Vaughan (1827) and came with Elinor and the handcarts. He showed up for rebaptism in Springville, March 1857 and then disappears from Utah records. It looks like he may have gone to California for work in the gold fields up over the Sierra passes.

Black History Month

One example of 19th Century African-American Christianity

Before you start, I've heard the whine before, "When are we going to have White History Month?" It is true we don't have White History Month, the principal reason being that we already have twelve.

Case in point: I'm reading a great book, Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations, by Mark Lyman Staker. The author is not some radical, black-panther type, just a historian working for the LDS Church.

"Let Us Have Peace"

Yes, those are the words of U.S. Grant from his first Inaugural Address. General Grant and the Fourteenth Amendment may be vindicated as so far, Utah Governor Herbert has not ordered state troops to fire on Ft. Douglas that overlooks Salt Lake City from the Wasatch foothills to the East. As Grant won a bloody war to secure the United States and establish Constitutional protections of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all the people of the United States, we now face a Constitutional crisis that our nation will endure without resort to civil war.

I'm highly suspicious that Judge Shelby of the U.S. District Court, District of Utah, planned ahead to issue his decision on same-sex marriage for the week before Christmas. He may have hoped that the spirit of the season would temper any adverse reaction to the ruling. It's not over yet as a legal question until the Supreme Court eventually decides the issue as it certainly will. But as even most of the opponents of same-sex marriage believe that it will eventually happen, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later so that we can stop arguing and all calm down to deal with the inevitable and get over it. It is not worth civil war and it is not worth tearing families apart, least of all at this season of the year.

Seven Score and Ten Years Ago

Objectivism vs. Communitarianism

"Angels Who Have Pruned on High!"
As part of our LDS Ward Fall Clean-up, our Bishop and others help take down a threatening tree limb before it falls.
I mostly worked on the leaf-raking crews as I have few heavy-equipment or chain-saw skills.

More philosophical than political today, although I'm far from being an intellectual philosopher. And for today we will just leave aside the devil's purpose regarding free agency (you can see my view here). And I relate personal experience only to say that I attempt to walk the communitarian walk.

Yesterday, I went out to help the neighborhood in our Fall clean-up project. Most of it was yard cleaning for widows and the elderly. Our Priesthood and Women's Relief Society under the direction of our bishopric prepared a list of people to visit with the needs they had. As we went around, we hit a few other homes that needed some work - those of new move-ins, less-active members of the church, even non-members. The best part of all is that some of the less-actives and a great new move-in family came out to help and then went along with us to other houses.

Tea Party Losing Their "Cause"

Tea Party Protest over the Shutdown - Attended by Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and Utah's one-and-only Mike Lee