Nineteen years before becoming our fourth president, James Madison suggested our Constitution was not good enough. So on June 8, 1789, he introduced ten constitutional amendments: The Bill of Rights.
On September 12, 2001 I drove to Gettysburg, seeking solace the day after. Tearfully I envisioned John Kennedy defining our Bill of Rights, not only as what our Founding Fathers were offering, but expecting of us, as our patriotic duty to each other.
With differing visions for America, FDR and Eisenhower stood, separately, in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain, through which I was driving. Observing the magnificent vista of nature's beauty and power, FDR called it, Shangri-La -- Eisenhower , Camp David.
To me, the vision of the First Amendment of our U. S. Constitution, capsulizes the very essence of what America hoped to be when Americans grew up. The greatest difference between Left and Right brains, is our vision of America.
By law, this exceptional constitutional amendment legally guarantees to people like Craig Cobbs and Donald Trump -- to the same degree it shields citizens of every religion, race and sexual preferences, from such men as these -- freedoms of speech, press and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Consequently, the right to call ourselves patriotic, is a privilege earned by being the living embodiment of our Statue of Liberty, loving our neighbors in every neighborhood -- even those we deem our polar opposites, politically, financially and morally -- while insisting for them, the same Bill of Rights, in full and equal measure.
True global champions of freedom, let go of chaos, bigotry, prejudice, mayhem, inciting to riot, police state mentality, violence of any kind, rape of the earth's atmosphere, resources and all life upon it, and with open hearts, invite in the Free Will of Civics, the power of unity, the balance of civility, the wisdom of listening and the common sense of compromise.
That's when we merit the freedom to utter the words, liberty and justice for all.
TV news favors voters who defend with, he tells it like it is, which is neither proof of presidential nor intellectual acumen. However, the wise judge a man's character by the company of endorsements he keeps: Mitch McConnell & Jeff Sessions, Rick Scott & Chris Christie, Jan Brewer & Sarah Palin and of course, Sheriff Joe Arpaio & Rick Perry.
Even in this age of rage, anger motivated choices and intoxication with fear, there are millions of untelevised republicans who know America and the world deserve better -- despite the desperate seeking Backward Ho, clamoring to touch the cuffs of his Brioni.
We can't stop an international league of economic vampires from bleeding earth dry, until we stop believing our Definite Major Purpose is making money at any cost, while drowning in The Red they've created.
Strength of character requires more than being advertised into nicotine, alcohol and prescription drug addiction -- more than guns in the hands of dead toddlers to be a good father -- more than building a wall around the nation to which God sends his favorite immigrants.
Emotional maturity welcomes a cleansing flow of cascading neurological events, like a rainbow of light streaming through stained glass windows -- filling us with refreshing awakenings to truth, beyond the tip or our noses, beckoning to us.
If reason doesn't speak for the future of the living, the ashes of democracy will be the only testimony to our existence.
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