We the People

Growing up in America in the ‘70s and ‘80s I learned all about history, politics, grammar, science and math from Schoolhouse Rock! The tunes are catchy and I find myself, to this day, singing bits of them. Out of nowhere, while washing dishes, I might burst out with, ‘He was a hairy bear. He was a scary bear. We beat a hasty retreat from his lair and described him with adjectives.’

The one song that particularly stuck with me is the Preamble to the Constitution. This was quite a blessing my sophomore year in college. My American History professor gave 20 bonus points on the final exam for correctly writing out the Preamble. All these many years with the words rattling around in my head I’ve never thought about what they actually mean until this morning.

In the shower this morning I was singing the Preamble. When I got out my stepson asked me what the song was. I guess I was singing louder than I thought. I told him about Schoolhouse Rock! Sang a bit of Conjunction Junction and that was enough of an explanation for a 16 year old. I, however, pondered for the first time what I was actually singing.

The Preamble is an outline of what the founding fathers wanted to accomplish by giving us a Constitution. The preamble is actually one sentence with an ellipsis:

We the people of the United States of America… do ordain and establish this
Constitution.

There are six points in the ‘…’ that the founding fathers wanted to gift ‘to
ourselves and our prosperity.’ I can’t help but think that we have failed our
founding fathers.

The images that those six point conjure in my mind:

We the people of the United States of America…
In order to form a more perfect union

Establish justice

Ensure domestic tranquility

Provide for the common defense

Promote the general welfare

And ensure the blessings of liberty

Hmmmm, Wonder Why Obesity Is Rampant In Texas

I read the Victoria Advocate, the local paper from Victoria, TX online quite often. On Monday mornings I read the wedding and engagement announcements from Sunday. The rest of the week I mainly scan the headlines, scan the local sports then click to the obits to see who died. Looking back on what I just typed… I read the virtual Victoria Advocate a lot like I read the actual Victoria Advocate.

I few days ago I found this little gem: M-m-m-m, deep-fried cookie dough - from scratch

I have a friend named Jo who had never been to Texas but was quite intrigued with the sound of ‘chicken fried steak’.

I explained to Jo that chicken fried steak is a flattened steak that’s been battered and deep-fried, like fried chicken. Thus the name, chicken fried steak. Jo turned her nose up so I blithely said, ‘We Texans will batter and fry anything.’

You can bet I emailed Jo this link the moment I found the article.

Mandatory, Obligitory Privileges

G'day Y'all,

As of 25 August I have been a permanent resident in Australia for two years. I am now eligible for citizenship. I am very excited about becoming a naturalised citizen of my adopted home. I appreciate the privileges that come with citizenship. I’ve tried to explain to my Aussie mates just how excited I am to vote in Australia.

In Australia voting is mandatory. If you are eligible to vote and don’t you are fined. Because of this my Aussie mates see voting as less of a privilege of democracy and more a begrudged obligation lumped together with paying taxes.

I can’t help but wonder what the implications of a mandatory vote in the US would be. Election turnout hovers around 50% in American presidential elections. My guess would be that the half of Americans that don’t vote are for the large part those who would benefit the most from policy changes like health care reform. If a fine doesn’t get these people to the pole perhaps we could use the money collected in fines to revamp the health care system.

The target I’m trying to reach with these randomly tossed projectiles of thought is this: Be we American or Australian (or soon to be both) we are privileged to have a voice in the way our governments conduct their business. It is a sin against the sacrifices of the men and women who formed our societies to not use these voices as loudly and brightly as Julie Andrews in the Alps. The way I see it we have two choices. We can register and vote or suffer in silence as others dictate how we live.

Get out there and VOTE!