Time To Defend The Constitution (Part I)

In Union There Is Strength
I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled.  The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court.  This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding.  It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind.  We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers.  The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation.
When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution.  Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.
We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.”  At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors.  Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict — a false conflict — between the military and civilian society.  It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.
Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.
James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.”  We do not need to militarize our response to protests.  We need to unite around a common purpose.  And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.
Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’  Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.'”  We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis — confident that we are better than our politics.
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.  Instead he tries to divide us.  We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.  We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.  We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society.  This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.
We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another.  The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community.  Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country.  We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square.  We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.  At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.
Only by adopting a new path — which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals — will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.
James Mattis
[James Mattis is a retired general who served in the United States Marine Corps.  He also served under President Trump as Secretary of Defense.  Gen. Mattis resigned his position after a disagreement with President Trump about the treatment / support of our Kurdish allies in Syria.
This statement will be appearing in an upcoming issue of “The Atlantic” and appears (in full) in multiple locations on the internet including here:  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/ .  Note:  the link is to an article about the General’s statement.  The article also includes the entire statement.
Disclaimer:  No claim of ownership is implied or intended by my posting on this site.  Please support legitimate news sites if you are financially able to do so.    —    kmab]
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2020	Role Reversal
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2019	Right Or Wrong (I’ve Gotta Be Me)
2018	Open Doors
2017	When It Deserves It
2016	Expiation For Rest
2015	You’ll Get Through It
2014	A Special Kind Of Fall
2013	Very Rewarding
2012	MIB3 – The Team Is Closer Than Ever
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Let There Be Light

In 1780 in Hartford, Conn., the skies at noon turned one day from blue to gray, and by midafternoon the city had darked over so densely that in that religious age men fell on their knees and begged a final blessing before the end came.  The Connecticut House of Representatives was in session, and many of the members clamored for immediate adjournment.  The speaker of the house, one Colonel Davenport, came to his feet, and he silenced the din with these words:  “The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not.  If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment.  If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.  I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought.“
I hope that all of us in a difficult and somber time in our country’s history may also bring candles to help illuminate our country’s way.
—    Senator John F. Kennedy
From a speech given at the Sheraton Park Hotel, Washington, DC
September 20, 1960
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2018	An Old Style Conservative
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2016	In Trembling Hope Repose
2015	Let There Be Light
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Bits And Bobs And Birthdays

First off, Happy Birthday to my younger brother Sean!!
You gave us quite a scare with all this Cancer business back in December and January.   Fortunately, you’ve come through for another BD (and hopefully, many more to come).
As to my own health, I’m still working through gallstones.  I’ve got my gall bladder removal scheduled for early May so (fingers crossed) I can start getting back to working out and losing some weight.
I was doing some random browsing and I stumbled on an article about how few Catholics have actually read the Holy Bible from cover to cover.  Well, I must admit to being one of those who haven’t.  So, I’ve decided to rectify that.  This week I started at page one.  I’ll periodically be posting thoughts and quotes as I go along.  I’m not going off the religious deep end (well, anymore than usual), but I would like to be able to say I’ve read the Bible all the way through at least once in my life.  (Ego rearing it’s ugly head, again.)
As a coincidence, I’m also currently struggling through a book which is an introduction to calculus.  I took analytic geometry / pre-calc when I was in high school, but I never had much of a math requirement when I went through college, so I never had to get stuck into calculus.  I wouldn’t say I’ve regretted it, but calculus has always been one of those topics I’ve never been able to discuss – because I’m ignorant of it.  (Hmmm, I wonder how many will say that’s never stopped me talking about other things I was ignorant of.)  Anyway, I’m slogging through an intro to calculus book, too.
My oldest daughter is off on a business trip to Washington, D.C.  She had a few hours off, so she texted me she was doing some sight-seeing at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.  It brought back memories of my only trip to D.C., back when I was in the Army, and I took a long weekend off to visit.  When I was growing up, I saw a photo of some kids playing in the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  I thought, “I’d like to do that some time…”  Well, I didn’t play, but I did soak my feet.  It was a typical hot, muggy, Washington afternoon and the water was terrifically refreshing!  If you ever get to D.C. in the summer, I highly recommend it.
Anyway, my daughter’s text was that the Cherry blossom’s were out in full force.  I was (am) soooo jealous!!  I’ve always wanted to see the Washington Cherry blossom season.  (Is it a “season“, when it’s only a couple of weeks long?)  Oh, well, some other year…  Another item for the bucket list.
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2019	Enjoy!
2018	Happy Birthday, Bro!
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2016	60, Little Bro!
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2013	New Adventures And Old Hopes
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