July 26, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by listening when people share experiences and observations. The comment box below invites readers to write.

Note 1:  I often dash words in phrases in order to express and preserve an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth despite possible error. In other words, a person expresses his “belief,” knowing he or she could be in error. People may collaboratively approach the-objective-truth.
 
 Note 2: It is important to note "civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for the people more than for the city.
 
A personal paraphrase of the preamble by & for Phil Beaver:  Willing people in our state routinely, voluntarily collaborate for comprehensive safety and security: continuity (for self, children, grandchildren & beyond), integrity (both fidelity and wholeness),  justice (freedom-from oppression), defense (prevent or constrain harm), prosperity (acquire the liberty-to pursue choices), privacy (responsibly discover & pursue personal goals), lawfulness (obey the law and reform injustices); and to preserve and cultivate the rule of law for the USA’s service to the people in their states.
 
Composing their own paraphrase, citizens may consider the actual preamble and perceive whether they are willing or dissident toward the preamble.  
   

Our Views (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_788e72ca-70bc-11e7-a0ac-cb3d1d13bfb4.html)

What we have is a failure in integrity: The local community that chooses vigilantism is being favored in its battle with civic morality. Religious morality opposes civic morality.

The civil service system is designed to protect the public in those institutions that may be adversely affected by a popular elected official. For the system to work, a willing people may understand. When the people understand, the elected official makes certain that they get along with career officials that are protected by Civil Service for the benefit of the people.

See, for example, the principles in the negotiations reported in “Police leaders back ambassador program,” Page 1B, today. Together Baton Rouge seems the self-proclaimed local Alinsky-Marxist organization (AMO), and Mr. McLaughlin is reportedly a “community activist.” Does that mean principal in another AMO group? Police management must not answer to AMO “ambassadors.”

What authority do these people have if not vigilantism? What power is Mayor Broome wielding if not vigilantism? The threat alone is enough. See online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky: “Alinsky planned to arrange for large numbers of well-dressed African Americans to occupy the urinals and toilets at O'Hare for as long as it took to bring the city to the bargaining table. According to Alinsky, once again the threat alone was sufficient to produce results.”

  

I urge the Louisiana legislature to assure the citizens of Baton Rouge that protection of the people’s chief of police will remain under Civil Service.

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Psalms 141:3, CJB).

“Set a guard, Adonai, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.”

Dean says “This is a good prayer for all of us.”

Doubtable Dean keeps on writing. I work hard to take responsibility for what I write or speak.

I’m reminded of a line from the movie “April Morning,” wherein the young head at the table, taking the place of his father, slain by the British, prays, I recall, “Lord, I’m going today to shoot Red Coats. I take full responsibility for my intentions.” I work for such integrity.    

Letters.

Air abuse (Heurich). (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_bd53b234-6c08-11e7-997b-e7065e36e7d2.html)

I doubt the extremes portrayed in this letter. Our skies often looked like that when I arrived in 1966, but not now.

  

Letter to the editor seemed irresponsible (Houck). (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_d569d788-6e27-11e7-aef9-13b7f2b1e925.html)

I appreciate the suggestion: Perhaps a lazy landowner has not sought the remedy the system offers.

However, the lazy writer owes readers an explanation.

ACLU nonpartisan (Esman). (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_b053f97c-6e24-11e7-8f89-7f7782640999.html)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to me, ACLU is not pretty, whether self-styled “partisan” or not. Most of the time, I oppose Esman’s causes and expressions of them. I prefer education and collaboration to stealthy law suits.

  

Columns. (The fiction/non-fiction comments gallery for readers)

  

Airforce strong now and perhaps will remain strong (George Will) http://newsok.com/article/5557173  

Switching to drones; hypersonic weapons; railguns; and Directed-energy laser-based weapons.

Trump leadership (Michael Gerson) sj-r.com/opinion/20170725/michael-gerson-trumps-problem-is-leadership-not-communicationsWilliams

Gerson understands neither the willing citizens described by the preamble nor the balance of powers stipulated by the articles in the constitution for the USA. President Trump intends to establish the potential for America to be great according to the founding principles rather than the nanny-state liberal democrats vie for.

Thereby, willing people are the leaders, Congress are the collaborative legislators, the President is the administrator, and the Court is the adjudicator. The press has the freedom to be of the willing people or dissident. Perhaps the willing people need to constrain the press, which has grown dissident to an extreme that seems like defector. Gerson seems in such extreme dissidence.

 

Kushner (Dana Milbank) washingtonpost.com/opinions/jared-kushners-excuse-for-repeated-lapses-inexperience/2017/07/24/b703351c-70b3-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.2eb790a7ec43

Kushner serves at the request of the President of the United States. Better to employ a faster-learner you trust rather than a seasoned, cunning egocentric.

Other forums 

libertylawsite.org/2017/07/25/political-institutions-cant-foster-virtue-they-can-only-channel-vice/#comment-1567634

Mr. Peterson seems to imply that “civic virtue” is discovered as “the common good.” There’s tension with “clashing interests and views,” perhaps about “the common good.” We need “deliberation, compromise, and consensus” that represents the diversity that drives the clashes.
  

Federalist 51 adds civic justice without a mechanism for majority control. It is suggested that Congress maintain civic virtue by constraining temporal, emotional majorities, yet accommodate diverse preferences. Congress is forced to listen so as to harness diversity for the common good.

However, mutual listening is assigned to the people who are willing to trust and commit to the purpose and goals stated in the preamble to the constitution. Willing people discover civic justice for the decades of their lives. The people of 2017 know exponentially more than the framers knew, yet, in the preamble the framers gave willing people the authority they needed to amend the articles of the constitution. It was impossible for the framers to imagine and provide for the future.

The preamble asserts that willing people in their states authorize a limited USA. The competition in 1787 was to continue with the Confederation of free and independent states (Treaty of Paris, ratified in 1784). But happily, on June 21, 1788, nine states ratified the preamble and the articles with the provision that the First Congress would negotiate and add a Bill of Rights. That day, the USA emerged as a nation, leaving four free and independent states.

Through the people’s neglect, the USA has expanded itself out of control—we suffer tyranny. Only willing people may establish civic justice according to the preamble.

Civic justice consists not of compromise or subjugation but of willing people iteratively collaborating for mutual freedom from oppression so that each person has the opportunity to acquire the liberty to pursue personal preferences rather than the dictates of a municipality, a tradition, an ideal or any other arbitrary human construct. The resulting “common good” is comprehensive safety and security, as described in the preamble’s purpose and goals. Dissidents to comprehensive safety and security are informed by the culture and constrained by statutory law. Civic justice is discovered from the-objective-truth rather than by conflicting for dominant opinion. The-objective-truth exists, and humankind works to discover and benefit from it. The-objective-truth does not respond to reason but is rationally utilized.

Mr. Peterson’s arguments for religion fail, both because religion seeks to justify intellectual constructs that do not conform to the-objective-truth, and because the literature he cites does not contain the words and phrases that support the claims. For example, while Washington’s inaugural address has the phrase “private morality,” it does not contain even tacit reference to families, schools, and religious congregations. It is important to admit that religious congregations in the South fired on the USA in April, 1861, causing the Civil War: Beware religious beliefs as civic justice.

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