Not the Encounter Spielberg Thought

I worry sometimes if The Founding Fathers and Mothers could see the muddle we've made of their democracy they might take George Bernard Shaw at his word and tear up the Declaration of Independence.

I'm old enough to have almost met Carl Schurz in person, we went to different high schools together judging by our varsity jackets, but I still admire his thoughtful position on wrapping oneself in the flag or as is more commonly the case in our current political climate when confronted by positions on issues not to one's liking, sticking Old Glory in one's ears with one's fingers and la-la-la-ing at the top of one's lungs. And as Harry wrote and Three Dog sang....

So America in 2014 is still arguing over the Second Amendment, the entire amendment not just the parts that suit one side or the other of the never ending debate conducted while innocent citizens become casualties and now, as I understand this news story, the separation of church and state are, along with batteries, sold separately (but equally).

I suppose this use of tax money is better than another Bridge to Nowhere but only just barely and I'm not all that sure of my math. As someone who has checked out the Pastafarians in recent months, I would concede I live in a Lucite if not actually glass house and the only Stones in whose presence I should be are Rolling, but I worry, again, about why we fear science and when this happened.

If you want to believe Moses rode down Mount Sinai on a dinosaur with the Ten Commandments, or Suggestions (based on how many of them we pay any attention to), that is entirely your business. UNTIL and UNLESS you take my tax money to build a museum, a puppet theater, a cigar box, an oil painting or a PowerPoint presentation offering your perspective as The Truth (definite article deliberate).

We shout one another down in the halls of Congress and shoot one another down in the streets of every city in our nation. The notion of free elections has become obsolete as every campaign for every office becomes a consultant exercise where an open debate and exchange of ideas on various topics is reduced to creating wedge issues and pinpointing a handful of critical voters and the devil take the hindmost.

Makes me wonder what animals Ken Ham's Noah failed to get aboard the Ark and how many of them knew how to swim.
-bill kenny