The Verdict - Speaking the Truth

This was last night's Jeopardy question last night about the words Ver and Dict, being Latin for "speaking the truth".  If one renders a verdict or decision on a case one should certainly be seeking justice and speaking honestly.  But people like to invent things in the Constitution that aren't there and to deny things that are there.  There is a provision in the US Constitution that says "No debt shall be questioned that is incurred by this government".  Yet in 1917 during the spending of World War I Congress instituted this thing called the "debt ceiling".  The thing is that subsequent bills by Congress itself have contradicted this bill with obligations such as Social Security.  These are indeed "Entitlements' but keep in mind this is a word people like to play games with for want of seeing the obvious.  It indeed is an "Entitlement".  It is a Right.  It is something that has been earned, and cannot be negotiated away.  I think prenuptual agreements are wrong because they Negotiate Away certain sacred values inherent in the marriage contract itself.  When the Bible speaks of human sacrifice, I believe this entails negotiating away certain inailiable human Rights such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  The people of Florida in 2000 were "entitled", they had a Right, to have their votes Counted.  But somehow this right got negotiated away.  Now in this latest monetary budget bill to avert the Fiscal Cliff- - - certain incentives and come-ons were added.  Disney Corp was given a lot of money as were the big banks and Wall Street.  Also I'm told there were yet MORE deals to finance the off shoring of more American jobs.  The Average American doesn't realize the high level of pork in these bills passed by Congress.  Newt Gingrich said that the Hurricane Sandy bill was "a train that was headed down the track, so congress just loaded up this bill with over fifty percent Pork".  This is something the American people were not told.  With all this gun hysteria out this week in particular, nobody is even thinking about the fact we are heading tword another of those "self inflicted wounds" known as the Debt Ceiling Crisis.  Nobody argues that paying off debt is better than HAVING the debt.  Clearly we'd rather not have it and clearly it would be a good thing to reduce it.  But the idea of using this unconstitutional "Wall" of the Debt Cailing as an excuse to stick it to the poor and the least among us able to provide for ourselves- - this to me borders on the criminal.  It's funny how the Rich are so quick to remind a poor person when he is even a Little in debt.  Yet Jesus Christ himself tought on the folly about point out the puny debts poor people incur- without first aknoledging their OWN indebtedness, perhaps even to God Himself.  Rich people are hypocrites because by everything they say they act as if they themselves Never Need Government and wish somehow it would just "go away" and "leave them alone".  But if this were really the case they wouldn't be trying so hard to take government over, which they have, or to deny the poor and minorities their democratic rights.

 

I was mentally formulating some possible topics for the lead-off posting in “Soap Opera of Life” for a while.  One point of interest that struck me was that character traits per se are not the same as “good” or ”bad” personal accomplishments of life.  These are a mixture of both character and environment and of course opportunity.  You can be the bravest person in the world and still be doomed to a certain death, if the environment is sufficiently adverse- - like Nazi troopers storming into Paris in 1940 or something.  And yet how many Christians such as Fred Price and Chuck Smith- - measure a person’s “godliness” by how big of a church following he has, or what kind of car he drives, or whether he gets tons of fan mail from groopies every week.  The plain fact is that God has repeatedly stated in the Bible that he ideas with the man who often has to stand Alone against his adversaries, and that God is with such a man every bit as much as he’s “with” Chuck Smith.  The strange thing is that Good and Evil are not entirely "opposites".  A list of cardinal virtues and vices will not be exact corilary opposites.  Good is a Proactive force- - and yet our reaction to evil is normally Reactive.  It's a funny thing is that a hypothetical person who is perfect and "never makes miatakes" is not per see "Good".  He just has an absence of Evil.  I have said in my writings before- - even if I see acts of evil - - - that I will forgive a Lot from a person - -  if he shows signs of true Bravery.  Because it takes goodness to poseess Courage.  And this is what a lot of people seem to lack entirely.  It's sheer lack of any character and moral cowardess to an apalling degree.  So it's the extreme moral cowardess of both the tea party and the Born Again Christian community that galls me.

Sometimes we have idioms in the English language that may seem illogical.  For instance we say “loosen” and “unloosen” to mean the same thing.  We talk about a “disgruntaled” employee, but I have not once heard of a “gruntled” employee, or know what one would be.  Sometimes “narrow based” or “narrow minded” can refer to completely opposite actions.  For instance if you construct an “narrow” IQ test it may be one which will not allow for the subtalties of very stupid people or very smart people.  You may be able to answer questions way more challenging than the ones on that test- - and are Judged adversely, merely because you are brought “down” to the level of the test.  So it’s like if the person writing the test only has a 105 intelligence then you are comdemned to being rated at 105 intelligence, yourself.  Often though the exact opposite problem exists.  On these political tests they give you- - they “point” or if you will “directionalize” the answers- - they telegraph or target the “correct” answer in advance.  This is your High Kurtosis phallocy.  There are all sorts of far left and far right questions on that test.  The wide ranging nature of the test is not the issue here- - but they want all of the “scoring’ to show up at some ethereal “point’ or spike right in the center of the test- - and are content to have the wings or “tails” spread way out to the left and to the right.  These people, though they show up on the test- - are dismissed as “too far out to take seriously” and all.  Some people say that conservatives are “anti intellectual” but I regarded Dad as a bit knee jerk and anti intellectual because when I would make an “intellectual case” for Conservative Christian thought say 35 years ago- - it would be dismissed not for any academic reasons but for the same sort of lazy “generalities” the tea party people employ now.  They case their arguments not on any Facts, but rather these “memes” they have been brainwashed by and don’t require any cognitive thought.

There are memes in society that survive independent of any fact.  One on that list was this adage that “Well you know.  I’m like a tea bag.  When I get into hot water I only get stronger”.  This is physically a flat out falsehood.  Tea bags that have been in hot water for a long time only brew tea that is both weaker and more bitter than a fresh tea bag.  And then there is the one about how “whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”.  You need only to consult with a heart patient to see the folly of this.  Those people who actually DO have a cholesterol problem, where the rating is above 250 or something- - are in fact in more danger from consuming that chocolate milk shake, then I would be, for instance.  The fact that the LAST one didn’t kill you, or that last cigarette didn’t kill you- - won’t make you “stronger” to face the next one.  Of course then there is this notion about - - - generosity to the poor.  They say “If I give this starving person a meal, he’s only more likely to be at my door asking for another meal tomorrow”.  But what’s left unsaid is that “But if I deny him- - if I get lucky he’ll die of starvation in the next 24 hours and I’ll never have to face him again”.  This whole idea is that if a want or need is granted then “They’ll only want or need the same thing again later” is a silly line of argument.  Maybe God, if he’s looking for example for a really “low maintenance pet” should just adopt a pet rock, and this will solve a lot of his problems.  Dead people have no feelings and never complain about anything”.   Then there is the meme that only rich people “Know the value of a dollar”.  This one is so absurdly false and more likely than not it’s the exact opposite.  POOR people are the ones who truly know the value of a dollar and what it can do for them, and are more than willing to work for money, because they DO know the value of it.  It’s rich people, on the other hand, who are so obsessed and preoccupied by their MONEY that they will pay a business manager a huge commission to insure that poor people or the government never get a penny of it.  According to Judy, every rich person out there like Mitt Romney must “have really worked hard” and of course understands “Biblical economic principles” (mean greed and love of money) and as such because they are rich then Godliness is imputed to them, and you can’t attack “Godly” people!