I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
November 07, 2008 - 3:38 p.m.
This is one of those days where not much has happened since I wrote my last entry. That means I pretty much have to write about my thoughts. How I can do that is a mystery as I always tell you that I have no brain.
I came into school to grade yesterday but was only able to finish one class. I thought they'd do worse than on the first test but they actually did slightly better. The median grade was an 80. Even though the mean only improved by 0.2 points some students' grades varied greatly from the first test. One student did 32 points worse and two others dropped 26 points. On the plus side one improved 30 points and another 23. It is hard to get a take on who the best students are. The average student lost did 0.6 points worse than on the first test but the class average improved. Can you figure out how that is possible? I'll explain it later.
Speaking of explaining something geeky; I'm thinking of writing an explanation of e=mc2. It will not be technical. Does that interest you or does it scare you away?
I'm not writing about that now. I still have more to say about the election. One of the most significant things about the election is simply who Obama is. The greatest embodiment of the American ideal is that any kid could grow up to be president. For the first time this is demonstrably true. A black kid with a foreign father, a foreign sounding name, with an Islamic name, from a broken home, grew up to be president. He is the antithesis of Bush, the child of privilege and the scion of a president. This has had a tremendous effect on the way the world sees us. We have been perceived as hypocrites, supporting democracy and rights when it suits our interests but not others. Now we are showing in the most obvious way that these are our central values. People know that this couldn't happen in their country. This is the American epiphany.
I have often criticized our government and the American people too. What I have not criticized and always cherished are the ideals of our constitution. Yes we have too often betrayed them but that doesn't mean that we reject them. We aren't perfect but as the Constitution and our President elect have said, we strive to become "more perfect." Yes that is a crime against grammar, it should be "closer to perfect" but the questionable locution does not detract from its noble meaning.
This got me thinking, what can we do to make our democracy more perfect?. Here's my list.
- Abolish the Electoral College. That will take a constitutional amendment.
- Outlaw gerrymandering of congressional districts and all legislative district at all levels. This might take an amendment too
- Raise the level of public financing for candidates. Obama demonstrated how inadequate they with his prodigious fund raising.
- Register a higher proportion of voting age citizens. There are two parts to this. The first is making more citizens eligible. The first thing that needs to be changed is the lifetime loss of the franchise of convicted felons that exists in many states. Draconian drug laws combined with their unequal enforcement has turned the war on drugs into a campaign to disenfranchise blacks. The second part is eliminating hurdles for eligible citizen to register. Now too many states make you navigate an obstacle course to register. Voter fraud is practically non-existent. We can't follow the principle that it is better that 1000 eligible voters are denied their franchise than one ineligible person votes.
- Make it easier for registered voters to vote. No one should have to wait on line for 8 hours to vote. Early voting should be universal. Perhaps election day should be moved to the weekend and last 24 hours and be held simultaneously throughout the country. Perhaps from 12 noon EST Saturday to 12 noon EST Sunday. That way people in California, not to mention Alaska and Hawaii will not be voting after everything has been decided. There would be significant time to vote during non-working hours for almost everyone.
Right now President Elect Obama has more pressing problems, the economy and two wars. As soon as the emergency is over he should turn his attention to making our union more perfect.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile November 07, 2008
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