January 16, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion only when the-indisputable-facts-of-reality have not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by learning other people’s experiences and observations. The comment box below invites sharing facts, opinion, or concern. (I read, write, and listen to establish my opinion as I pursue the-objective-truth.)
Note:  I often connect words in a phrase with the dash in order to represent an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth without addressing possible error or attempting to balance the expression.

Our Views:  It seems liberty was set aside for race, religion, and politics.

“Conscience” is an entrenched word from political-correctness. The-inalienable-right-and-duty-to-think is suppressed by “conscience.” Tacitly, if your thoughts are not civilized, they are regarded as incorrect. However, a person may consider---think about---the civilization to which he or she is asked to conform---in other words: Why should a citizen suppress no-harm private thought?

Perhaps in agreement with 1966 marcher James Meredith, I feel the last five decades have unnecessarily effected regression. Race, religion, and politics distracted the USA to social-democracy rather than liberty in a republic.

I advocate a civic people, perhaps the 2/3 who want broadly-defined-safety-and-security, hereafter Security. In mutual-appreciation for those who offer Security, Baton Rouge may establish public-integrity as private-liberty-with-civic-morality. It requires voluntary collaboration with recognition that perhaps 1/3 do not want Security.

We reserved a public meeting room at an EBRP library for 7:00 PM, June 21, 2017, for the fourth annual Ratification Day celebration. We celebrate the civic-justice a people may achieve by using and promoting the preamble to the constitution for the United States. Seating is limited. If you are interested in a way of life with mutual appreciation for Security rather than competition for dominant opinion, contact us: google “A civic people baton rouge”.

In 1790, 99% of free citizens (of whom 5% could vote) were factional Protestants. Individual-independence motivated Protestants to divide into sects. “Sect” seems politically preferable to “faction.” If thought had not the propriety of factional Protestantism it was not “civil”---did not conform to social morality or civilization. Thus, your thoughts could be discounted. For example, Thomas Paine shared his thoughts and died, as stated by Robert Ingersoll, “Even those who loved their enemies hated him, their friend – the friend of the whole world – with all their hearts.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine#Later_years .

The Advocate quotes King’s longing for spiritual inspiration to appeal to the heart. However, each person’s heartfelt concerns and hopes are private. They are not issues for public discussion. Matters of conscience do not preclude the duty to collaborate for civic justice.

Today’s Thought (Dean). Jesus informed us that we are capable of becoming perfect. Each time our understanding and resulting actions are perfect, we follow Jesus’s nudge. In other words, his message comes again. I got that idea from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay at emersoncentral.com/divaddr.htm .

Ethics (Pittman). No doubt. However, the OGE, with excessive funding, could be a bottle-neck that restrains transition to a new administration. The OGE is operative year-round.

Lords over women (Pearce). Given a good outcome, adoption is good. However, no one can correct a mother’s knowledge of and commitment to the potential person in her pregnancy.

One heartfelt way of establishing opinion about a woman’s decision to remain pregnant is to regard the viable ovum as the hypothetical fetus waiting to be born. An ovum to be fertilized wants the best outcome. Thus, the ovum wants the mom to protect the body that ovulates and to be prudent in both mate selection and child-care feasibility. While it does wish failure to implant into mom’s womb, it would not choose gestation with biological errors that would lead to an unwanted life. And as a gestating fetus, he or she would not reject the mom’s protection from an unloved-life. Pregnancy termination is a better option than 85 years of hell on earth. These considerations from the ovum may seem heartless to Pearce, but not to me.

Also, if the mom deems or is coerced into adoption as her preference for her fetus and completes gestation and delivery, she cannot guarantee a good outcome. Adoption does not always work out.

I speculate adoption rate is about 20% of elected abortion rate. I trust my research on abortion numbers better than Pearce’s (none). Actual numbers are very hard to learn, because of privacy, but I think in 2014 there were 3.9 million live births, 4.4 million biological abortions (natural abortions), and 0.7 million elected abortions. Perhaps there are 0.135 million adoptions per year; see creatingafamily.org/adoption-category/children-adopted-year/ . Detailed abortion-numbers are available: see johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html#3 .

Melinda Deslatte column. It makes sense for Gov. Edwards to schedule a trip to Washington after the new administration is seated. However, he should have been requesting $8 billion dollars as soon as that figure was estimated in early September. See washingtonexaminer.com/louisiana-flood-did-more-than-8-billion-in-damage/article/2600965 .

I understand that there are factual requirements. However, when families are displaced there should be more sense of urgency and estimating-error on the high side.

I have been called into the office, asked to fly that afternoon, and on arrival, given the assignment of finding both ends of 160 pipes in a rack that was blown away that morning by an explosion. I returned the drawings with 320 ends sketched the next morning. I got no extra pay, but my work was appreciated by all and helped the people of the United States.

Meanwhile, the governor has the audacity to plan and execute IMO an unconstitutional trip---what I call the Chapter XI Machiavellian Vatican-Edwards-partnership. Unbelievable! Only a civic people can end the religion-government-partnerships that ruin the USA.

Clarence Page column.   The Jan. 6 Wall Street Journal opines on Page A12 that this Chicago case points out the fallacy of the “hate crime” rule. The rule empowers leverage about race, religion or politics rather than rather than crime against the victim. In a “hate-crime,” the victim loses identity as a person for the sake of an agendum. A victimized person losses identity to a “movement.”

It is common for lives to be sacrificed for protest disruptions---people on the way for emergency care encountering blocked streets or sidewalks; women on the way to a clinic suffering harassment; AMO recruits injured or killed in passionate eruption to violence. 

Clarence Page attempts to make Obama’s race-record politically correct by quoting an example of Alinsky-Marxist organizer (AMO). DeRay McKesson, says “violent acts never have been the organization’s intention.” Recall his AMO arrest in Baton Rouge: nytimes.com/2016/07/11/us/deray-mckesson-arrested-in-baton-rouge-protest.html .

People who are unfamiliar with Alinsky may get a 45-minute introduction at youtube.com/watch?v=PYfLKBlTM94 . I am not a fan of Buckley’s egocentric eyes yet admire blunt and calm, factual-objectivity as well as knowledge of Alinsky’s literature and public statements. Buckley entraps Alinsky in the hypocrisy of preferring to steal rather than accept charity, as well as other embarrassments.

Citizens may be aware of and choose whether to ignore or oppose AMO: that’s ignorance or opposition: submission-to or freedom-from; vulnerability or Security; social morality or civic morality: factual collaboration or opinionated coercion.

Byron York column.   Donald Trump is only a man but seems to have the awareness and understanding to respond to surprises with precision, accuracy, and frank-objectivity. By frank-objectivity I mean unapologetically expressing a view of the-objective-truth. Leaving it to the listener to factually address possible error the listener perceives. In other words, the-objective-truth exists, and it is up to humankind to discover and each person to understand. In this case, Trump responds to all the noise about Russian hacking as though foreign interference is commonplace from many viewpoints, more a DNC failure than a Russian success, as demonstrated by the GOP’. Intelligence community reports are unreliable—seem to confuse customary propaganda as hacking. York’s analysis seems to vindicate Trump. Trump can be correct some of the time and seems to try.

York confused me with the phrase “President Hillary Clinton,” only one sentence earlier than the phrase “Secretary Clinton.”

 Jeff Sadow column. “This year, Louisianans will pay more than $200 million in extra insurance premium taxes and hospital taxes passed along to them in order to pay for expansion. It will get worse.”

To Matthew White: While you did not express anything, you stated the obvious. However, Cassidy happens to be one of two US Senators from the Great State of Louisiana.

To Matthew White again: When I gave money to the Edwards campaign and whispered in his ear to work with Cassidy on Medicaid Expansion, it was with the full expectation that Edwards would become governor. I was naive enough to believe a governor would work with his US Senator. Wrong again, Phil Beaver! (My first referenced wrong was thinking Jay Dardenne was worthy of my work and contribution. I would not go back to before if I could.)

You are brief, but what's your point? 

Rich Lowry column.  Lowry is correct to assess the facts about Obama’s folly respecting Russia. However, he joins the failure of so many writers trying to advise Donald Trump. How many times has Trump said, so cheerfully, “I’m not going to reveal my strategy!” How in the world do lame writers qualify for syndication? I guess they are approved by writers---thoughtless word arrangers.

Danny Heitman column.  Thank you for sharing your reading. I got my first experience with high-propriety-psychological-cruelty as a 20 year old cooperative-engineering-scholarship-student. Two PhD’s would dominate every DuPont-Chattanooga party I attended. The two intellectually tore each other apart and sometimes hit innocent by-standers. I saw people crush each other while the audience cheered.

The eyewitness to Vidal destroying Buckley may be viewed in the documentary “Best of Enemies,” see magpictures.com/bestofenemies/ . I agree fully that the documentary makes Buckley look mean more than strong and therefore vulnerable to Vidal: see nationalreview.com/article/423135/buckley-vidal-and-long-hot-summer-68-james-rosen . The permanence of Buckley’s self-destruction because of Vidal informs all of us not to let hatred enter our private-person. I do not have a clue as to how Buckley affected any hatred Vidal may have held. If Buckley had let go of the incident, perhaps Vidal would have, too. Vidal won because he was prepared to discuss the-indisputable-facts rather than display psychological prowess.

I’ll let readers discover “Buckley not letting go,” if you are interested.

By all measures, IMO, Donald Trump is both humorous and likeable in his psychological banter with liars, whereas both Buckley and Vidal were deadly vicious in their particular ways. See for example, youtube.com/watch?v=NnRVAzFa6Og .

The Pledge of Respect (#BRrespect). I studied the ideas with Hugh. He agreed with my revision to “mutual appreciation” rather than “respect.” He noted that “respect” can be adversarial or competitive, as in “deference” or “humble submission.” We agreed that six of the nine pledges are OK following the introduction, “As a citizen of Baton Rouge, I commit myself to help create a better community by upholding these standards of [mutual appreciation].“ We liked six of nine pledges for our constraint---mutual appreciation.

Based on our vague understanding, I do not condone teaching the existing nine pledges to children. It’s like training them for utopia when history informs us they might as adults experience conflict, violence and war. We hope to collaborate on the pledge with perhaps six elements, because it seems a well-grounded idea and compatible with We the [Civic] People of the United States.

 

Phil Beaver does not “know”. Phil trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood. Phil Beaver is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.