Worse than Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold in Continental Army Uniform

It could be argued that Benedict Arnold was simply loyal to King George III as the king still claimed sovereignty over the American Colonies and had sent an occupying army to suppress a colonial rising. And fortunately, General Arnold's plan to deliver the fort at West Point on the Hudson was foiled by exposure of the plot.

I suppose one could also argue that Individual 1 is merely loyal to his highest interest, his own view of a great America with him at its head. It all revolves around him and it's all in his head under that mass of highly controlled hair cover which must take so much work it helps explains why the rest of his appearance is so slovenly.

Hiraeth from 2016: Day Five, Cardiff Castle

We went to downtown Cardiff again. Well, at least on the same general route downtown. There were a few sites on the way.

That moment you realize your patriotism has been turned into some cheap,
 commercial stunt. Wait. I live in the US!

The big surprise was as we neared Cardiff University, we noted a large number of film production trucks, trailers, etc. It was Doctor Who! The guards were very friendly but didn't let us too close. We saw no stars and the Doctor was apparently off in the TARDIS somewhere (or in the vault in the basement with Missy). However, we did confirm that it was the Doctor's crew.

Hell to Pay

Sick to my stomach doesn't begin to express what I felt watching the links below. I suffered so you don't have to unless you want to.

The first is the President's melt-down, press conference of yesterday (Tuesday, August 15, 2017, a day that should live in infamy). I watched the whole thing. The first part was about infrastructure. At about 7 minutes, he opened it up for questions and he went way downhill from there.

NY Times Transcript and Video of trump's Press Conference

Then there was this from one of the organizers of the legally permitted march in Charlottesville (Yes, First Amendment protected). It's a selfie-video he did when he learned that there was a warrant out for his arrest. He claims to be a peaceful and law-abiding neo-nazi. [WARNING: rough language].

Marching Home

We arrived early enough that the crowd wasn't that big

Political rallies, conventions, caucuses, candidates of various parties have all been witnessed first-hand. But this was my first ever political march. I mean, we weren't in formation or lock-step in any way. It's just that I have never been a part of a protest. And I wasn't alone.

It helped that my daughter went with me. I had posted on Facebook that I was going to march for refugees and had friends say that they might make it or were with me in spirit as they were occupied elsewhere. My daughter didn't surprise as she had been with me and a friend to caucus for Bernie. And the cause is just.

Remember the Mormon Pioneers as refugees from New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and, of course, the despair of the coal mines and iron works of South Wales. Remember the promise of the Statue of Liberty which was my theme noting several others with the same in the massive crowd of yesterday. Remember the Pilgrims and the Founders of religious liberty in this promised land and the promises of the First Amendment.

"Yearning to Breathe Free"

This Saturday I plan to march in support of refugees now prohibited from entry into the United States by the current President. I found some basis in family history to give me a reason why:

Thomas Vaughan, born 1850 in Llanfoist, Wales, son of John and Maranah Vaughan, arrived in New York City, 1 June 1886 on the SS Nevada. He arrived in Salt Lake City by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad on June 8 and settled in Ogden. His wife, Isabella, and seven children, the youngest, my Great Grandfather, George Robert Vaughn, arrived the next Spring, also thought New York on the same S.S. Nevada.

The SS Nevada of the Guion line

Lawyers? Are Heroes?!

The guy in the White House has sparked something quite a bit larger than the tea party. And he's only been at it a week.

His "Muslim Ban," hugely part of his campaign, is going down before judges, protesters, and hopefully Congress now that we have enough Senate Republicans (McCain, Graham, Flake, at least) to reign it in.

What surprised me the most was the crowds cheering . . . the lawyers! Now, that's something you don't see every day!

President Obama's Farewell Address

Yes, I liked the speech. It reaffirmed that the President's views of politics and the Constitution are very much like mine. I don't agree with him 100%, but it's in the nineties.

This is a great speech. This is the best President of my lifetime.

I provide here the full text of the speech as found on CNN. I provide no further commentary at this time, but I have highlighted the parts I like the best.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Should NOT Sing at Trump Inauguration!

This beautiful sight:

Is tarnished by association with this man whatever his government title may be:

Will he want to be photographed in similar poses with the Sisters of the Choir? Will he want to grab any inappropriate parts of their bodies?

Why I Rise

Resolfen [Resolven] 1900

From Song of the Earth by Alexander Cordell. It's about 1850 on Lyon Street in Resolven, Vale of Neath, Wales. The father, Mostyn, comes home from the coal mine to find Redcoats in his house looking for his son:

The Redcoat smiled and shifted his feet. There was about him a quiet authority more usually found in their officers, and he was not without charm. He could have handled this in a much more brutal way for he held the power of life and death over the Welsh workers. In the Top Towns, where the owners called in the military to break a strike, I have seen the Welsh flung out of their homes, their women man-handled. Time was, In Crawshay's Merthyr, when a troop had only to cut a dog in half to get obedience, or hang an innocent Dic Penderyn, but he Bread or Blood riots of '31, and the rise of the Welsh Chartists in '39 had changed the face of their authority. Yet they still demanded instant loyalty to their puppet Queen, and this, usually, was the test of Welsh fidelity. The sergeant said now, 'You are aware that your son is a member of illegal organisations?' [unions]

'if he is, then he is responsible.'

Oh, Canada!

Why can't we have a nice, capable, young guy like this run for President? oh yeah.

I feel so disloyal.

I spent the day at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Training Center teaching public land managers how to reference the law in decision-making. We talked about the U.S. Constitution. I told my patriotic story of a public servant I know who did the right thing under the rule of law ignoring political threats from a Congressman. I sold them on the ideals of the More Perfect Union.

Then I sat in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport watching loops of CNN political reporting on the delegate lead of the Republican front-runner. There was also the clip of Governor Christie standing behind him with the strangest look on his face as if he needed to get to a restroom really fast but didn't know how to make his exit.

U.S. Constitution Founded on Babylonian Religion

Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from Shamash (or possibly Marduk).
Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer. Ancient Iraq, by Georges Roux, Chapter 17, p. 266 

No, not really. The Founders were men of a Western European Christian tradition. However, their ideas of government and laws were much more expansive than that.

As relieved as I was that the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge ended without further bloodshed, and grateful for the help of all the negotiators who talked (and talked) the remaining armed occupiers into surrendering, I was still a bit concerned by some of the philosophies of the talkers. The occupiers will be tried for their actions that violated law, not for their beliefs. My concern is that certain beliefs need a bit of education so that they don't lead to further dangerous and illegal actions.

One of those who would not stop talking was Nevada State Legislator, Michelle Fiore, who said as the last occupiers were walking out to be arrested by the Oregon State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (who share some concurrent jurisdiction over the Wildlife Refuge) that all Americans should read the Constitution like they should read their Bible to help return to the Christian Nation the Founders intended. No. Sorry, Michelle. I've read both the Bible and the U.S. Constitution and you couldn't be more wrong. (I do believe that all Americans should read the Constitution and I'm a big fan of the Bible along with a lot of other good books.)

A Pronunciation Guide for the Malheur Stand-off

As a native of Malheur County neighbor to Harney County, I think I have a right and an obligation to provide a pronunciation guide for outsiders. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard when the news reporters and others get things wrong.

First of all, Oregon hasn't "gone" anywhere. Westerners, by ironic twist of linguistics, pronounce it more like ORE-reh-gun. The last vowel is actually a schwa or phonetically "ə."

Malheur always used to trip me up in spelling as I'm not a French expert. Yet I don't think the local pronunciation is real good French either. The "h" is not silent. I've always heard it as something like Mal-HYER.

And don't get me started with "Boise." It's an "s" not a "z," People!

"Blessed Are the Peacemakers"

There is an LDS conference talk that never got the attention it deserved. It was delivered by now President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Russel M. Nelson in October, 2002. I had finished my first ever marathon that morning in St. George and my grandmother and I were watching conference. She was then 92 years old. I remember her saying, "My! I've never heard them speak so directly about current issues!"

For a reminder, October 2002 was the big lead-up to the mid-term elections and Congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq. It was wrong then and few people saw it. My Grandma did and so did I, not just because of this talk, but the talk sure helped.

Elder Nelson's talk was soon overtaken by events and President Hinkley's address of April, 2003 after the war had exploded on the world and some obligation to our troops engaged in battle and civic duty were required. That talk still broke my heart. I think that it is time to share Elder Nelson's talk. We didn't have the same ready access to share thoughts with the world so easily in that day which seems to be freshly relevant.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers"

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.

Please, President Obama, No More Crusades!

Anonymous D expressed some hard truths the other day:

Getting tired of the "Obama threw away victory in Iraq" thing. There was never "victory" in Iraq. The conservatives, neo-cons and Fox News enthusiasts who blew up the world never admit to the mess they made--That it can never be put back together again--That the idea that democracy would flourish in this region was simply not true. It's a nice rhetorical device to blow something up and then blame the guy after you for not being able to fix it.

Let's face it,  Iraq will require a 50 to 75 year commitment. It will eat up men, women, and treasure. That should have been stated up front instead of 10,000 men or whatever the Neo-Cons thought. We will be there long after we're dead, and probably our children.

Remember When Government Was Good?

It really wasn't any better than it is now, we just thought it was at times. Like when we wanted to grow a cash crop or even just a little something to eat. Maybe plant a tree?

A friend (from DC, but don't hold that against her) sent me this great postcard showing grateful farmers. Grateful both to God and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that made much of the West what it is today.

Do you know where your water comes from? The government, on a slightly revised plan inspired by John Wesley Powell, built dams and irrigated vast acreages for water associations and districts that paid back with little or no interest and with inexpensive operation and maintenance costs (i.e., they didn't build that). It was tried with private interests and phenomenal economic disaster on the Rio Grande in New Mexico, helping to inspire Congress to start Reclamation.

Sick of Crazy Cowboys

No, I don't want them shot! I don't want them to shoot me or my friends either!

The stand-off between the trespassing cowboy and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in southern Nevada makes me sick to my stomach. And I find myself so befuddled by friends who would express support for the cowboys against the enforcement of federal law. I can only imagine it must be the result of those trying to stir this up to serve the god of this world - - money. (If you can't take the hint, I'm referring to FoxNews and other conspiracy theorists. I know many on the left serve the same god too. Oh, and money=property, IMO.)

Sure, my caveats and disclosures still apply. I work for the Department of the Interior which includes the BLM. I know some of the BLM Law Enforcement guys in Nevada. I consider them my friends and men of honor in sustaining and upholding the Constitution of the United States. I don't have that kind of respect for people who rush to a confrontation and aim their guns at federal law enforcement officers who are doing their duty.

All for a Good Cause!

TurboTax and I were busy today with only minor cussing. That was me, TurboTax was all socially inept, "Congratulations! Now let's deal with your better half's W-2!"

We apparently owe some this year. Unfortunately our little deductions have about all flown the coop and the last one here won't even get us a credit because our income is  now too high. But that's OK because he just turned 17 anyway. So I have to claim fewer deductions and decrease my withholding. 

I do find it a patriotic honor to pay my taxes. I think taxation with representation is great! I do not begrudge the good cause it is to serve our government of, by, and for the People - all the people! I hope we can get the corporations under control a bit. They and the inordinately wealthy should not have the power to control and benefit from the government with their extremely high returns and little regard for the burden on the poor and middle class who helped provide the labor, spending, infrastructure, and taxes to get them where they are. Corporations themselves are a creation of the government of, by, and for the People, so it's certainly appropriate for the people to control them with reasonable regulation rather than a corporate "person" controlling the real people's government.

What's More American?

Flags whisking by during the program opening

We went to the Veterans Day Program tonight at the school where my daughter is teaching third grade. It was so well done and not just because my daughter was involved. There was a theme going that restores some hope for the good ole US of A!

I was a little worried with the emphasis on the idea that our military veterans give us our freedoms. No, I believe they come from God or Nature and it is dangerous to go with the notion that the military is the grantor of freedom and rights. (Just ask South America.)

So I started thinking that maybe the nearly universal honoring of Veterans in this country is the last link we have to the concept of a shared belief in our freedom and unique culture, most of which is still good. In the old days, it seemed that there was more respect for representative democracy, our governmental institutions, the President, and Congress. Even the Postman used to get more respect. I could go on about the "government is the problem" problem, but I've covered that ground sufficiently in other posts.

Bumper Sticker Time!

Sitting at home with my thoughts percolating into little blips for tweeting, I am able to express what I've long been believin':

You Can't Govern with those Who Think Government Is the Problem.

You Can't Compromise with those Who Believe Compromise Is the Problem. 

Compromise Is Not a Dirty Word 

Federal Employees are People Too!

Federal Employees Have Families