A man should be upright, not kept upright. — Meditations, Book III
My Take – The true sign of a mature person is that they are not only able to stand on their own two feet, but that they demand that others not support them. There is no shame in accepting help when it is necessary, but it should only be accepted when absolutely necessary. Conversely, those who demand that someone help them, provide for them, or protect them when they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves are nothing but large children.
I’ve been so deep in the weeds today that I haven’t been able to do much more than skim the news reports about the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare. I’ll find time to read the actual opinions on this and get back with my take on it, but here are my initial thoughts.
My gut is that this just opened up a whole can of worms. If the government can compel us to do something or pay a tax for disobedience, there isn’t a lot they can’t compel us to do or throw us into jail for failure.
If Romney and every Republican running for national office have an ounce of gray matter between them, they will be screaming about this and promising to repeal this law before the echo of the oath of office is done reverberating from the steps of the Capitol.
The President is about to try to impress me by taking a victory lap for his base of voters while trying to not piss off those of us who are going to have to pay for his foolishness if he’s re-elected.
I agree with MaddMedic. John Roberts may be smarter than the average bear on this one, at least as far as politics go.
We survived Dred Scott. We survived Plessey v. Ferguson. We will survive this. It may not be fun, but we will come through this eventually.
Then again, our ancestors would be shooting by now.
June 25 seems to be a day for big things to happen.
1876 – George Armstrong Custer makes the fatal mistake of trying to live up to his grandiose reputation at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl was first published, detailing the time that Anne Frank and her family hid from Nazi’s during the Holocaust.
1948 – Josef Stalin started learning the lesson that telling other countries “You can’t” doesn’t exactly mean they’ll start doing what you want them to do when the Berlin Airlift began.
1950 – North Korea started the Korean War when they invaded South Korea. That particular war is still on-going, since a formal peace treaty has never been signed.
We’re off to attend the annual family reunion in Indiana. I look forward to watching herds of children wander through a state park for the weekend. Y’all enjoy your weekend.
I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense. — Thomas Paine
My Take – Don’t give me opinions, rhetoric, or feelings. Give me numbers, charts, facts, and plans of action. Manipulating me through emotional arm twisting will rarely get me on your side, but might gain you an opponent.
Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no god, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you. If you find reason to believe there is a God, a consciousness that you are acting under his eye, and that he approves you, will be a vast additional incitement; if that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appetite to deserve it; if that Jesus was also a god, you will be comforted by a belief of his aid and love. — Thomas Jefferson
My Take – By studying religion, even if you aren’t a believer, you can find ways to be a better person, both to yourself and to others. If by studying, you gain a stronger faith, so much the better, but at a minimum the exercise of reading Scripture, taking quiet time to consider yourself and your place in the universe, or whatever it is you are studying will lead you to a better place.
Today is the day that Hallmark Cards thinks we ought to do what we ought to do all the time: tell the good men who raised us that we appreciate it.
Yesterday, we gave Irish Woman’s Hoosier Dad a card from the kids and made sure he knew how important he was to us. He and Hoosier Mom ‘adopted’ Irish Woman when she came home with one of their daughters and needed a little parenting and acceptance. She kept coming back, and now she’s counted among the kids.
Hoosier Dad is one of the good ones, and I’m beginning to believe he’s also among the majority of good men who recognize their responsibilities and don’t find a way to get away from them.
So if you’re one of those dads, good on ya. Enjoy your day and the new tie.
DaddyBear’s Den 