Category: Politics

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What Was I Thinking About Abortion

A search of my blog site shows that I have never bothered to make a post about abortion directly. But I have addressed it obliquely and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade i wanted to put in writing where I stand and memorialize my forecast. I support women’s right to have an abortion until she is carrying a viable child. I think that then the child starts to gain some rights. When exactly that is is for the society to decide via the political process.

I opposed Roe Vs Wade because it was a stretch to find a constitutional right for abortion and I thought that the question should be decided by legislatures. Roe vs Wade put an end to that process for fifty years. I am confident that what just happened in Kansas will happen across the country. When people are asked to vote they understand that there needs to be a right to end an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy and they will elect legislators to make that clear or pass state initiatives to allow it. The details will vary from state to state and it will take years to work out but we will get there.

The constitution is silent on a lot of issues. Dog ownership for instance. But they are covered in the tenth amendment. The Supreme Court was not ruling against abortion they were saying this is a decision for the people to make. We are getting a dog.

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A Rift in the Earth

A Rift in the Earth

by James Reston

This is a short book that tells the story of the building of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. “Our nation lost its will for the war, and yet didn’t have the courage to stop it.” Maya Lin’s simple but moving memorial is a fitting tribute to those who gave there lives in this lost cause. Reston’s story of the “Art wars” that were fought over its construction is worth reading.

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American Exceptionalism

American exceptionalism was noted as far back as Alexis de Tocqueville in the early 19th Century. It was often assumed that it meant that America was better than other countries but it really meant that America was different. For many years I made the argument that we were exceptional, and better, because we tended to have self selected to come here. So by definition, in the margin, we were more adventurous and less risk adverse than the people who stayed at home. I still think that that is true but being on the Grand Jury has made me add a caveat.

It might be that we also have the other extreme. Perhaps a significant portion of our population is made up of the misfits, the bull headed, the ones who want to cause trouble and the ones who had more passion and less good sense. I am speculating but it might have been more common than we want to admit that getting young Noah out of Brighton ahead of the constable was important. And the best available option might have been for Uncle Steve to pay for his passage to America.

Its Saturday so I’m thinking out loud.

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The Grand Jury Redux

One of the most important things that came out of my time on the Grand Jury was learning about the diverse group of people that made up the jury. In summary if this group is representative of the population in general then we are in good shape. The group was solid, intelligent, thoughtful, polite and considerate. Any one of them would have been able to serve in Congress without lowering its standards.

The staff and the assistant county attorneys that ran the operation were also far above my expectation. Being a small cog in the wheels of justice for a few months gave me an insight into the enormity of the task they face.

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Celebrating Democracy

During the election season candidates put up signs on public right of ways to get your attention. Most people hate these signs. I have learned a way to like them and so can you. Just start seeing them in the same way that you see Christmas lights. They are a celebration of the Christmas season, Think of election signs as a celebration of the First Amendment and the election season.

That these signs can exist at all is a testament to our democracy and the freedom to choose that we have. Thinking of them as the outward signs of the annual celebration of democracy has worked for me. To me the electioneering signs are no longer eyesores, Now to me they are as beautiful as Christmas decorations. That they will exist is not controllable by you, but your attitude to them is.

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Hammurabi’s Code

At the time Hammurabi’s code was written (circa 1750BCE) the family was the basic unit of society. Individual rights were not a consideration. Here is a quote that demonstrates it: “If the architect built a house and the house subsequently collapses, killing the firstborn son of the master, the firstborn son of the architect shall be put to death.”

Culturally in Western Liberal Democracies we now consider the individual to be the holder of rights but in much of the world the family is still paramount. The proposition is still being tested in the marketplace of ideas and occasionally on the battlefield. We shall see.

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