WE THE PEOPLE???

Why does the U S Constitution say, “We the people…” when the document really means “We the white land-owning men…”?

You would have to get in your time machine, don your time appropriate garments and head back to 1775 Philadelphia for the answer.

Of course, the real answer lies many years, if not centuries or even millennia earlier when the ‘weaker sex’ relied on the men to bring home the bacon, a beaver, or a buffalo and provide safety.

But before you make like Anne Boleyn, let me assure you this will not be a very long history lesson on the minority rule of men. It will merely be a roundabout way of showing that while ‘the squeaky wheel gets the oil’, ‘might makes right’ is the rule.

There are several more aphorisms that could be used but after a while they may take the reader’s attention away from my purpose, so I’ll stop before it’s too late, and strike while the iron is hot!

In law there is something called, ‘Adverse Possession’ which is generally used with regards to land ownership, but I will stretch it’s use a bit here for reasons which will become painfully clear.

Adverse possession states that if someone owns, or claims to own, or has in his possession, that which he was not originally entitled to, for a prolonged period, without dispute by the original owner, then ownership is given to the usurper.

The idea and practice comes from England, which just so happens to be where the United States came from.

So, where does adverse possession fit into the argument about “We the people”?

White, land-owning men have seemingly owned all other groups of human beings in America ever since arriving here from England. QED!

And since the above has only been disputed a handful of times, albeit successfully, the rule still stands and can be reinstituted at any time!

Two such successful disputes involve squeaky-wheel suffragettes, and equally squeaky-wheeled Civil Rights marching African Americans.

However, it now seems that the people noted in the Constitutionally cited, “We the People”, have decided that enough is enough and have started to rescind the hard-fought for rights of decades past.

Well, not all the “We the People´ have decided the above.

A mere five to four simple-minded; single-minded, simple majority on the Supreme Court of the United States is simply about to do so.

With a stroke of their conservative pen, those five individuals will strike down the first right from a list they hold sacrosanct; that of women being allowed to control their own bodies.

The archaic reason is, after all, they have been possessions of white men since before this Nation even began and were merely on loan.

And once “We the People” have taken care of women’s health issues, their right to vote against their husband’s wishes could be next.

Rescinding the rights of those they consider inferior sects of our citizenry will follow, as all the dominoes will topple and America will finally be ‘taken back’.

But no time machine is needed to stop that which would appear to be inevitable.

No new revolutionary war, or civil war be started, or rather continued.

The first shot heard round the world has been fired.

Now is the time for all good “We - All the People” to stand up and be heard before their voices are heard, like Poe’s Raven said, nevermore!

INFESTATION!

Newton's Third Law states that, 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.'

The gravity of this observation cannot be overstated because it can be used in so many ways and in so many fields.

It is the fundamental law used in aeronautics and space travel, as well as boxing matches and schoolyard fights.

Another, not so famous law, albeit not taught in school, comes from George Orwell's classic novella, "Animal Farm."

I hope everyone has read it. If not, hurry and do so before it is banned.

"Animal Farm" teaches us that while all men (creatures) are created equal, some are more equal than others!

Perhaps Mr. Orwell was alluding to America's valuation of the African slave population of the late 1700's and 1800's who were ruled to be worth only three fifths of a person.

This ended, although it still exists in practice today, to a degree, when the North defeated their brethren in the South and the 14th amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It explicitly repealed the 'non-equal' status of the former slave.

However, the action of repealing the 3/5 compromise caused a reaction that led to the Jim Crow Laws.

Separate but still not equal status of the African American started to crumble when Harry Truman directed the military to accept and treat all members of the armed forces as equal in 1948.

And the crack really widened with the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v Board of Education.

The Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act, all passing while Lyndon Johnson sat in the White House, supposedly put an end to all legal discrimination based on race back in the late 1960's.

Each of those acts caused reactions felt to this day.

The next war front emerged for all to see and hear, when women decided they needed to be treated as equal to men and started stating this out loud, very loud in the early 1900's.

Starting just after the Civil War when African American men were given the right to vote by the 15th amendment, the women's suffrage movement began.

Once again, the action of ONLY ensuring men a new right caused women to react in a wave that extended into the 20th century.

The 19th amendment, written up in 1919 but not ratified until 1920, finally allowed women the right to vote.

While all the above rights were won after long dangerous and deadly fights, their continuation has been under attack since inception.

They require diligence and vigilance to ensure their lasting effect on the lives of all Americans.

But just as George Orwell warned of dangers and potholes in the road to a free and fair Democracy, so too does Margaret Atwood in her cautionary "The Handmaid's Tale".

In America we control our bodies.

Our laws protect others from harm we might inflict, or attempt to inflict, on others.

But for some reason this seemingly simple principle does not extend to our elected officials!

It was not until 1973, 49 years ago, that women were finally granted the legal right to control their own bodies with regards to that uniquely feminine act of childbirth.

That was the year the Supreme Court of the United States of America ratified into law the legalization across the land of the procedure known as abortion.

Commonly called Roe v Wade this law finally freed females from back-alley abortions and the use of hangers in a grotesque and dangerous way.

This right and the action of granting it to women caused the immediate reaction from a large group of hypocritical men, and sadly some self-disrespecting women, who call themselves Evangelicals.

Together with their allies of the radical right, they have been plotting, fighting, complaining, and chipping away at this settled law, ever since day one of its existence.

Little by little they found footholds in the Repub Party, which basically had nothing with regards to moving America forward since the 1980's.

They kept proposing bills in State legislatures across the country with a dual desire to please their so-called righteous base and keep or gain local power.

Finally, through a conglomeration of strange and dangerous liaisons, foreign and domestic, they were able to find and ensure the promotion to the Presidency of a puppet with absolutely no moral compass and no desire to help anyone but himself, his friends and his family gather and hide wealth.

While this minority elected, twice impeached president presided over the land, the final three nails in the coffin of justice were appointed as Justices to sit for life on The Supreme Court of America. (Note: Repub Presidents Bush and Bush appointed the other 2 nails.) 

Finally, the radical right had all the pieces in place to end the first right in their sights, that of women to control their bodies.

Soon Gilead will not just be a village in Nebraska but a metaphor for America!

Ms. Atwood never intended her tale to be a primer, but unless the women of America wake up it will become the textbook of choice for the country.

Will this finally be the act that causes the reaction necessary to save our Democracy?

Don't just wring your hands, maidens, YELL, SCREAM, REACT.

AND WHILE YOU ARE STILL ALLOWED TO VOTE, VOTE!

AND USE THAT VOTE AS YOU WOULD A POWERFUL INSECT REPELLENT TO RID AMERICA OF THE REPUBLICAN & CONSERVATIVE INFESTATION.

REMEMBER EVERY TIME YOU GO TO THE POLLS, AND IN EVERY STATE AND LOCAL PRIMARY.

AND OF COURSE

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!