One of my greatest pleasures in writing has come from the thought that perhaps my work might annoy someone of comfortably pretentious position. Then comes the saddening realization that such people rarely read.

– John K.Galbraith, economist (1908-2006)

Go write your name in the snow!

Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor;–let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his childrens’ liberty. Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.

— Abraham Lincoln, age 28,
The Lyceum Address 1838
Springfield, Illinois

This is not an unprecedented moment in America’s constitutional history. In war-time, presidents have over-reached before, and they will over-reach again. The over-reach is often for good reasons; and after 9/11, it’s understandable that some corners were cut. What this decision represents is therefore the re-balancing of the constitutional order, after the heat of the moment. Think of it as the moment when King George’s crown was yanked off his head. The Congress has tried a couple of times, but been foiled by “signing statements.” So the judiciary has stepped in. Other presidents have tried mini-coronations. What we are seeing is the end of the latest monarchical pretension.

 

Count no day lost in which you waited your turn, took only your share and sought advantage over no one.

– Robert Brault

My Dad was born in Texas in 1932, but did most of his growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, in California. I guess it was a good place to grow up. He’s a good guy.

Some men are just good at taking care of things, and family, and small animals. Dad can fix anything but a broken heart and the crack of dawn.

These are not good quality pictures, I guess. I have better ones, but these seem somehow right for the day.

Happy Birthday, Dad! You’re the best. Here’s a paragraph from the book I’m writing, just for the helluvit.

It never rains in Cortina in June. That’s what everybody was saying in the Peterbuilt Cafe, the morning after it did just that. It rained half the night, sometimes hard and almost fierce. A massive cutoff low stretched half way to Hawaii, and brought the dark and heavy clouds in long bands from Watsonville to Point Arguello. They rode up and over the Santa Lucia mountains, watered the crops in the Salinas Valley, crested the Diablo Range without hesitation, and fell on Cortina tired but hardly spent. The town and the hundred farms around it got good and wet, but the storm never saw the Sierras. It was no match for the pressure of impending summer in the San Joaquin.

Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.

— Will Rogers 

It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.

–Calvin & Hobbes