Patriot Day

Grant Wood. The midnight ride of Paul Revere. 1931. New York City.
Wood’s painting seems like a playscape of children’s toys placed to form a village. It is extremely well lit in this pristine magical midnight. The smoothness of the trees and knolls, and the castellum hills behind a huge and pointy steeple which dwarves our hero, who rides a steed from a carnival’s carousel. The clarion call for battle readiness does not register in the paint.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Paul Revere’s Ride begins,

LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

and ends,

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, --
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed,
And the midnight-message of Paul Revere.

The War for American Independence began in Middlesex county, Massachusetts at the battles of Concord and Lexington, the 19th of April 1775. All the colonists were not united. There were two political parties in English/British politics: the Conservative Tories and the Liberal Whigs. The war was fought for the cause of maintenance of rights and freedoms versus governmental power. The Liberals defined, themselves and american history records them, as Patriots. Yes, the liberals were patriots. The conservatives preferred british hegemony.

To-day we have the sad situation, where those who most loudly proclaim themselves as patriots, approve of greater governmental power, versus citizens’ rights. These faux patriots use the word ‘liberal’ in contempt or as a calumnious accusation. We have the obscene naming of missiles as patriots. We have an obscene governmental act bearing that name. These measures, this regime has instituted upon us, are akin to those practices that caused the rebellion that gave birth to this nation.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Concord Hymn of 1837 begins with the quatrain:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.

That shot was fired by an anxious soldier, history does not know whether he was a yankee farmer or a lobsterback. The english were more disciplined, but that does not prove the argument. That shot began the war. The colonies, eventually united (and with foreign aid and troops, especially french) and overcame the british empire.

radioactive cats

Danny Westneat, in the Seattle Times, has recently shared with the world, a most illuminating tale: a federal border agent told a group of citizens of an incident, where, “government now has the ability to detect radiation in a cat inside a car going by at 70 miles per hour.” A motorist was stopped and had his vehicle searched. There was radiation in his car. The source was a cat, which had had undergone medical treatment, three days prior. Apparently, we can assume, after this was satisfactorily ascertained, he was then free to go. Fortunate he.

Radiation lingers. When the cat has left the vehicle, there still would be radiation. How sensitive was, or can be in the future, the police detecting equipment? By accident, what if the police personnel were to be both overzealous and given to harshness and rudeness [read brutality]? The possibilities of cascading mistakes could be horrendous. Washington state is a calm place, what if Joe Motorist and his feline companion were negotiating a road outside Baghdad? What if a human, previous occupant, of two hundred pounds more in weight than the cat, were to have such medical treatment? Would not his larger, radiation signature linger?

In that article, the relating officer, was depicted, as rational and experienced, yet, he too, was worried about certain aspects of the new police powers, and so too the writer. If paranoia is active in the powers of the state, alongside such technological sophistication, are not our civil rights and freedoms endangered? There are criminal bandits, and would be assassins, wanting to do harm, there are also governmental forces willing to do other types of harm, constantly and thoroughly, and argue that their actions protect us from the other dangers.

The odds, that I, will encounter Osama and his comrades, whom are hiding in a central asian cave, are infinitesimally small. The odds, that, I can avoid the surveillance of the police and the state are smaller still.

Police and the First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — ratified 1791.


Department of the Interior. 31 January 2008. Point for the police.
Now, the police are not constitutional scholars, nor enthusiasts. Their tendency is to follow a certain teutonic ideal of, „verboten ist alles, was nicht ausdrücklich erlaubt ist“.* Some people want an Endangered Species Act listing for the polar bear. This man found out what the agents of the government think of the First Amendment. He tried quietly through humor to advance his argument. The police were not amused.

U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood ruled, on the same day, that the Ferndale† police are not permitted to ticket peace activists, who encourage drivers to toot toot, and such car drivers who do. Such police and civil action is a violation of law. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan had filed the lawsuit. The residents of Michigan, now have legal precedence, that a display of a sign, that reads, "Honk for Peace", is not a threat to public order. The police and city argued, creatively and duplicitously, that such aggravating behavior was a danger to public safety. Of course, since the war began, no accident happened there, not so in Iraq. — Point for the Constitution and the citizenry.
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*everything is forbidden, that is not explicitly permitted
†a suburb of Detroit Michigan

The police, the citizenry and the law

There is a lot of thankless and difficult travail in the routine of a law officer, whom works the ugly streets and neighborhoods of America. This has to take much anguish and stress in body, mind, soul and social and family life. Such men often view corrupt, degraded, wretched and horrible aspects of society and the people within that society.

Still a policeman is a member of the commonwealth. He is not outside humanity, but within. He is of the same blood and sinew as the rest of men. He is not more than or less than other folk. Yet, he transgresses, quite often, without limit. I have heard in the southern idiom, "... the law", in reference to the person and his office. This may be metaphorically, and unfortunately de facto, true; it is not de jure and intrinsically true.

There are some artistic creations of american popular art and theatre that are wonderful. In the black and white era of the cathodique cinema comedy, there were three programmes with three prominent lead actors ― Jackie, Lucy and Andy. Andy Griffith portrayed Andy Taylor, Andy of Mayberry. I believe he was and is unrecognised in his ability and sly, gentle cleverness. Shakespeare had Dogberry as a gendarme buffoon. Andy was iconic. The english bobby is recognised for not carrying a gun (he is armed with club) and people who have not been to England know and expect this. No one thinks of an american cop without his prop. Andy of Mayberry is an ideal, he is not the one you will meet at a traffic stop or on the street.

I try to speak circumspectively on this, police perform a necessary duty in society. There is much temptation in weakness of temperament and love of liberty and justice. That failure has the police act without constraint. A good and respective society does not allow this. The individual has to realise this, sometimes in advocacy and sometimes in self-protection.

The first amendment is our cloak of protection. It is not an armour of miraculous inviolability. We are legally guaranteed its domain, more so in theory than in reality. Also, law is to be reflexive, commutative, and distributive. Of course, when we open our eyes and lift our fingers to the wind, we see this is not so. We are required to mouth "liberty and justice for all", but honest and aware men know that is a fiction. It is the totalitarian party line.

There is an ancient joke, where the immigrant plaintively tells:

Yea, yea, free contree. Evryvone say free countree. I go vrk -- boss yell na me, I go na street -- polees yell na me, I go home -- vife yell na me. Yea, yea, free countree -- my a**.

The first part is the materialist, and here the capitalist system, that uses men and their labor as only means of production. The second, is my concern, the police as a demi-tsar that is used by government, and allowed by the government, to inflict its and his will on the citizenry. The policeman is also a citizen. What is for the one, must be for the other.

The written law recognises free speech and free assembly. Police, and this extends to the national guard, hired thugs, "called security", and other agents, have this wicked tendency not to so recognise. Why crossing the street can avail a dozen indictments. And beyond this, they often commit criminal acts, in their own right, having nothing to do with lawful exercise. And, further, the state, being the courts and the other two branches of government, are loathe to exercise their office to prohibit, prosecute and punish the errant officer of the law.

There are categories of falsity to persecute the citizenry: resisting arrest, interfering with a law officer, provoking a riot, unlawful assembly, failure to disperse and other creative charges. Then there are complete lies: assault and battery of an officer, and the entire canon of criminal behavior when NONE transpired. The state, without consideration, rubberstamps guilty as charged. The word of the cop is assumed as the word of God and non-assailable.

When there is a camera, permanent visual witness exists. The police and state make effective use of it. When an arrestee is shown the tape, he concedes and surrenders, far more often then not. But when the film shows the citizen wrongly used and the perpetrator wears the badge, the matter is different. When made public, the police and their defenders twist credibility beyond rationality in defense, while the common citizen had he Ciceronic tongue and Aristotelian logic still would not prevail his innocence when accused. The police are quite willing to have others under picture surveillance; they do not want pictures of themselves taken. The Rodney King and the Los Angeles Police batting instructors should be an obvious example of such. The light of justice throws the deeds of darkness to view. God's first recorded words were, "fiat lux".* People have the right to use a camera. If the camera and its user are taken, that is theft and kidnapping. People have the right to photograph and film police, buildings and everything else. The orwellian Patriot Act is non-constitutional in many of its protocols.

In travel, we often use automobiles. The police act as highwaymen. The stops are investigative expeditions. Being right is of little and, often, counterproductive defense. Prudent and preventative judgment suggests certain protective measures. Every possible light needs to be operating correctly. Again and again, the statement, whether accurate or no, is used, "Your ____light was out". Take this lead away from them. Another thing that provokes cops are bumper stickers. Tactfully, do not display your opinion, especially if it is considered "liberal" or "critical of the establishment", you have walls in your abode for that purpose, try not to make your residence a jail cell. The true proof of these stops being against legal propriety is not when one is cited or arrested, but when no action is taken, not even a warning is issued or spoken. That is an admission you were stopped, in order, to be stopped.

An allied area are sobriety checks. I have been stopped several times. Some cars are stopped and some are not. I am questioned to why I am on the road, where my travel began, where my residence is, where is my destination, have I been drinking ... You have the right to remain silent because everything can and will be used against you. Being non co-operative is perilous. There are half a dozen patrol cars, more cops, light stands, et cetera ... This is defended, applauded, sponsored and defensively justified by the government, the media, MADD and other jasagers. The whole process casts out a large net and comes up with a small catch and our civil liberties are trashed.

Another is the issuing of tickets for revenue gathering. This is another form of taxation, a taxation by extortion. There are certain municipalities that use this as a major source of income. The officers' of government livelihood are maintained by that income. People object to a bum begging a dollar, yet they are required to pay a bogus citation or a warrant for their arrest appears. The next traffic stop your license, et cetera are processed and you are arrested.
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*Genesis i. 3 dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux
And God said: Be light made. And light was made. — drc
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. — kjv

Who Shall Depart Next?

22 September 2003

Who Shall Depart Next?

Over a century ago, the fortunes of Standard Oil, and some other industries, built mansion after mansion on Millionaire's Row, on Euclid Avenue, in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of that money also built a tony, and impressive, cut sandstone, English Gothic church with beautiful paneling, and painted, and gilted mahogany beams, and walnut pews. With the motorcar as the access to the first suburbs, the rich left Euclid Avenue. The Anglican congregation of St. Paul's moved east with them, and a new larger church was built in the Heights. The old building remained, and was sold, at the beginning, of the Depression to the Catholic Diocese, and by whimsical irony was sanctified, and dedicated, as the Conversion of St. Paul. A monastery was soon built for the somewhat, newly arrived, Austrian nuns whom came to Cleveland, for the perpetual adoration of the Sacrament. There now resides there: three orders of St. Francis. The second order is the Poor Clares.

The Poor Clares are a contemplative and cloistered order. They are there every weekday at the noon mass, and Sunday at ten, behind a screen and they participate at mass, as you may at the polished walnut benches. They also pray and sing the Liturgy of the Hours five times a day. Sisters Mary Cecilia, and Mary Catharina, are there now. They have come from Korea. Immigration wants to deport them. The paperwork submitted does not fulfill the requirement, that, they can prove they have worked, for the same employer, for two years.

The vocation of the Clares is to pray to God unceasingly. They do this in the belief that is efficacious and necessary for the world. They do so separated from society and in poverty. They have done so since the thirteenth century, this particular order since 1856 France.

Now, we all know that Republicans always campaign they are against big government and bureaucracy, so they created the Department of Homeland Security, originally Office of Home Defense, and gave it the concern of immigration. I was worried they might have called it the Committee of Public Safety. This along with the orwellian Patriot Act sounded an ad hoc fearsomeness that might be used to squelch liberty. Walter Cronkite speaking, to David Letterman, came close to saying something similar, immediately, after this governmental response to Osama's aerial assassins; an excuse to exercise fascism.

Bureaucracy loves to make itself officious, its sense of self importance is, always, something to marvel at. It is characterized by being rigid, and defined by inertia. The functionary, petty or grand, feels he does his job by saying 'no'. and not 'yes'. This bureaucracy is part of the administration, but essentially bureaucracy is the fourth branch of government. What ever disagreeable act they do, they justify with the plea, that, they are doing their job, or it is the law! Remember the apt words Charles Dickens had Mr. Bumble say, in Oliver Twist, "the law is a ass, a idiot."

These possible, enemy, foreign nationals may be here on some nefarious adventure, that, is why laws were passed in the nineteenth century to inspect nunneries, even in states that had none. And in case a few needed to be burnt down to the ground, that was also done. Excuse me, that was pre-civil war xenophobia and paranoia. This is merely a chain of idiot Barney Fifes following procedures.

As ridiculous as all this is, it is only an incident among many. There are many long term resident foreigners with green cards and visitors with visas that the Fifes, Ashcrofts, Ridges, Bushes and their ilk have fingered or made to jump through hoops to satisfy conflicting, changing and silly demands. This is done to protect America?

Bernadette MacAlisky [née Devlin] was roughly detained by immigration officials at O'Hare airport, Chicago, in February and deported on "national security" reasons. In 1969 she was elected as the youngest person to serve in the British Parliament. She represented occupied Ireland, and is noted as being a peace activist, she is a tiny, middle-aged woman, who has visited America many times. I don't think that made the evening news, too, many places.

And there are many people anonymous, and invisible, to all but their families, that have encountered such treatment or worse. Some people have been arrested, secretly, and deprived of all rights. Osama's bandits were very distinct, and they were ignored. These governmental actions neither correct previous errors, nor prevent future ones from occurring. Rationality is scarce today; brusque action is not.
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postscriptum: This has bee resolved in the women’s favor.