James M. Redwine

Events

Of Founders and Russians

by Leave a Comment

Harvard law professor Michael Klarman was the keynote speaker at the June 2019 Indiana Graduate Judges Conference. As an attendee I received a signed copy of Klarman’s book, The Framers’Coup, The Making of the United States Constitution. Gentle Reader, to give you some perspective on the exhilarating experience of a law professor’s book, the tome’s Note and Index sections run from page 633 to 865. Of course, the substance of the book contains 632 pages of which several pages thank the law students who did the grunt work. Regardless, I do recommend the book to you as an interesting and often surprising exposition of how our Constitution survived the throes of birth. As Klarman says of our pantheon of founding heroes:

“In the book I try to tell the story of the Constitution’s origins in a way that demythifies it. The men who wrote the Constitution were extremely impressive, but they were not demigods; they had interests, prejudices, and moral blind spots. They could not foresee the future, and they made mistakes.”

This is Klarman’s raison d’etre for writing the book. His admonition is that the men, and they were all white, Anglo Saxon, Christian men, who struggled for six months in Philadelphia in 1789 to create the United States were just men, not gods. Some of them owned slaves, some did not. Some were from populous states, others were not. But they were all mere mortals with virtues and defects.

The underlying message of the book is that if those men could find a way to overcome their political and philosophical divisions, we and future Americans should also be able to. For example, in our current culture wars where President Trump alleges Ukraine helped Secretary Clinton in the 2016 election and Clinton alleges Russia helped Trump and more recently both Trump and Clinton and many others are flinging arrows in all directions alleging our leaders are “foreign assets” we should just chill. If James Madison and the Federalists and Thomas Jefferson and the anti-Federalists could reach compromises, we should be able to also.

The salient issues and the thorniest were how could our Founders apportion representation among populous and less populous states, how was slavery to be addressed (or not) and could common citizens be trusted to govern themselves.

According to Klarman, as our Framers struggled to hold the Constitutional Convention together the Federalists and the anti-Federalists, “Questioned their opponents’ motives and attacked their characters, appealed to the material interests of voters, employed dirty tricks and made backroom deals when necessary.” Sound familiar?

Okay, you probably are choosing to go sort your socks rather than to hear any more from Professor Klarman or from me. But a word of caution, Gentle Reader, if I have had to experience the joys of all the almost 900 pages of Constitutional history, you may have the same opportunity in next week’s column. We might even delve into the vicissitudes of whether the United States Supreme Court is truly independent or are its decisions as politically based as those of the other two Branches

Mayberry We Miss You

by Leave a Comment

In December 1991 my family and I ate at Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. There was no trace of the bodies, blood and shattered glass from the October 16, 1991 mass shooting. We still felt their presence. Although I remembered the city riots of the 1960’s and 70’s and had closely followed the violence of 1968, the utter randomness of the Luby’s murders stoked more personal concerns. To slaughter people one did not even know struck me as much more horrendous than the misguided criminal actions of zealots.

While America’s 20th century experience with deadly violence from 1900 up to the 1960’s was extensive and tragic, as Jasmine Henrique reported in her article Mass Shootings in America: A Historical Review (Global Research News, 2013), the victims were almost always members of the killer’s own family or were the unfortunate object of a felonious act such as a specific, intentional robbery that was committed in secret. However, in most of the last half of the 20th century and the first nineteen years of the 21st century America has endured public mass killings of persons who were strangers to their murderers.

Memories of Luby’s came back to me as I participated in an internet class on judge and courthouse security taught by my friend and fellow faculty member Judge D. Neil Harris from Mississippi. Judge Harris along with other faculty of the National Judicial College including me are teaching a six-week course to seventeen judges from across America. Of course, it is not just the judiciary that needs to be concerned about security.

If you recall, when this course on general judicial topics started three weeks ago I suggested in this column there was much we modern judges could learn by examining how courts and judges arose originally. That is when humans considered net-working to be making friends with the folks in neighboring huts. As for court security in those bygone days about all that was required was for the judge to treat people who came to court as the judge would want to be treated. This worked pretty well until the world began to fill up with people who were not comfortable living in a smaller area.

But now, as William Wordsworth (1770-1850) might say, “The world is too much with us”. Or as Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) might have nostalgically wished if he were in charge of courthouse security, “That security system is best that restricts the least”. Unfortunately, we can no longer simply return to nature. The world has moved on.

Whereas in 1950 there were 151 million people in the United States and it seemed space was infinite, in 2019 we have 327 million and it has become difficult to stretch out. Mayberry, our TV town of 2,000, has metamorphosed into what feels like a megalopolis from sea to sea and from Mexico to Canada. Sheriff Taylor, who did not even carry a gun, ordered Deputy Barney Fife to carry only one bullet and keep it in his shirt pocket.

It may be that over population has impacted our behavior. Dr. John Calhoun (1917-1995) studied population density using lab rats as subjects. While many other scientists point out humans are not rats and are more able to adapt as conditions change, it may be our precipitous increase in mass shootings of random victims has come about as, at least, a partial result of population density. In their analysis of Calhoun’s theories, Doctors Edmund Ramsden and Jon Adams in their article Escaping the Laboratory: The Rodent Experiments of John B. Calhoun & Their Cultural Influence (Journal of Social History, Spring 2009) stated:

“As population density (of the rat city) increased it became evermore difficult for an individual to control the frequency of social contact. The result was unwanted interaction, leading to adverse reactions such as hostility and withdrawal, and ultimately, to the type of social and psychological breakdown seen during the latter stages in his (Calhoun’s) crowded pens.”

To solve a problem it helps to understand the cause of the problem It may be there are more valid causes for mass shootings than increasing population density. If so, they should be defined. However, if our teeming mass of humanity is contributing, we should address it and use our Homo sapiens adaptability to assuage the carnage. Regardless, whatever the etiology of increasing societal, including courthouse, violence there is no doubt is is occurring.

As reported by Timm Fautsko, Steve Berson and Steve Swensen of the National Center for State Courts and the Center for Judicial and Executive Security, there were 199 incidents of courthouse violence from 1970-2009 with an increase noted each decade. As they posited:

“We live in a time when threats against judges and acts of violence in courthouses and courtrooms are occurring with greater frequency than ever before.”

As much as I yearn to return to Mayberry and rely upon my mother’s stated advice, “Jimmy, just be nice”, the evidence overcomes the myth. Society, including the judicial system, must face the reality of a 21st century world. Security is necessary. That is why the Indiana Supreme Court in its Administrative Order AD19 requires each county court system to develop a security plan, seek approval for that plan, implement that plan and update the plan every two years.

I do not like it and my guess is neither does the Supreme Court. However, I, and I believe they, know it is necessary.

It Would Be An Honor, However …

by 2 Comments

Jim Redwine July 4, 2019

Peg and I and several members of the Redwine family were fortunate to have been included in last week’s New Harmony, Indiana Fourth of July Celebration. It was a community effort with fine music, an excellent reading of the Declaration of Independence by our friend and neighbor Chuck Minnette and copious amounts of hot dogs and ice cream. I was honored to be included as a speaker.

Reporter and photographer Lois Mittino Gray of the Posey County News did an excellent job of capturing the essence of America’s Birthday celebration and I truly appreciated her kind remarks. I also understand how someone named Redwine who was born on the Osage Indian Nation in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and who wore an Osage inspired patriotic vest could be assumed to be a member of the great Osage Tribe. While such an honor would be a source of great pride for me, alas, while I have numerous Osage, and other Indian tribe friends, I am not a tribal member.

Growing up in Osage County I played sports with and against Osages. I attended church and public schools with Osages. I count Osages among my best friends and treasure our memories and current relationships. I have always felt accepted and respected as a friend, teammate, schoolmate and competitor by my Osage friends. But the great privilege of being an actual Osage must remain in the realm of desire, not reality.

Gentle Reader, should you wish to encounter a culture where the Osage Tribe and several other justly proud Indian peoples will welcome you as they always have me and my family, I recommend you plan an excursion to Pawhuska, Oklahoma. You will find buffalo (bison), miles of virgin prairie on the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the Osage Tribal Museum, the Osage County Historical Museum, Woolaroc Museum, cowboys of the non-drugstore type, rodeos and the Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile among just some of the fun and enriching things to experience. You may even encounter Peg and me and other members of the Redwine family as Osage County and Pawhuska may not officially designate us as Osage, but we all have always proudly claimed the culture and heritage of that special place.

Every Month Has A Fourth

by Leave a Comment

America’s court system has several purposes but, in general, they all amount to resolving controversies. Citizens need some place to help them settle their differences with other citizens so everyone can get on with their lives. And one of the most important thing judges can do to start the resolution of a court case is to encourage the competing parties to find common ground. If the competing parties recognize they have similar needs and if all parties can at least consider the possibility that an outcome that benefits their adversary may also benefit themselves, a path leading to a reasonable compromise may appear.

Our country has often struggled with competing strongly held beliefs even going so far as resulting in the Civil War. But short of actual armed conflict we have suffered through numerous periods where political issues at first appeared to be intractable but were assuaged by the parties finding common ground. Our current public debate over such issues as immigration or war with Iran or several other significant matters may feel as if the only solutions are pistols at ten paces. However, when Americans are reminded we have more and better reasons to agree than disagree, we can begin to accommodate, and even celebrate, our differences. Such is the beauty of our national birthday party. Perhaps we should consider having similar periods of healing every month.

Peg and I participated in one such Fourth of July celebration in New Harmony, Indiana last week. Because New Harmony is a small town we personally knew where many of the people attending and involved in the party stand on volatile issues such as immigration, global warming, military involvement, the Me Too Movement, Black Lives Matter and, especially, partisan politics. Many of our friends and family are well informed and passionate on these and other matters. Conversations have often seemed more like a contact sport than reasoned debate.

But for several hours on the Fourth of July we all found common ground in the Declaration of Independence, songs of praise and a First Amendment type respect for our hard won honorable common heritage. In our culture we have numerous monthly events that each of us enjoys and respect such as club and association gatherings, sporting events, birthdays and anniversaries. Maybe we should set aside some time every month to renew our common faith in America.

The Redwines at Maclure Park, New Harmony, Indiana
Photo by Lois Mittino Gray

WHY AMERICANS ARE THE ONES SMILING (OR CONTROL MAKES ONE HAPPY)

by Leave a Comment

JUDGE JAMES REDWINE SPEAKING AT THE 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION, NEW HARMONY, INDIANA 07/04/2019

THANK YOU, NATHAN. AND THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. BY THE WAY, YOU CAN RELAX AND RELY UPON THIS BEING A SHORT SPEECH, ALTHOUGH YOU MAY SAY NOT SHORT ENOUGH. YOU SEE, YOU HAVE AN INSURANCE POLICY AS SOME MEMBERS OF THE REDWINE FAMILY INSISTED ON ATTENDING TODAY TO MAKE SURE I DO NOT GO OVER MY ALLOTTED TWENTY MINUTES.

WHEN MY SISTER AND OUR TWO BROTHERS AND I ALL SANG IN OUR CHURCH CHOIR, OUR MINISTER, REVEREND MAX WOLFE, WOULD SOMETIMES RATTLE ON AS THE CONGREGATION YEARNED FOR RELIEF. SO HIS DAUGHTER, JUDY, WHO WAS THE CHURCH ORGANIST WOULD ALLOW MAX TO GO ABOUT FIVE MINUTES LONG THEN SHE WOULD BEGIN SOFTLY PLAYING THE INTRODUCTION TO “THE DOXOLOGY”. THEREFORE, IF YOU HEAR MY FAMILY BEGIN SOFTLY MUMBLING “PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW …” JUST JOIN IN AND I WILL SIT DOWN. NOT YET, DAVID CAMPBELL!

IT IS GOOD TO BE WITH YOU ON THIS DAY OF CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE. IT IS CALLED INDEPENDENCE DAY WITH GOOD REASON. OUR FOUNDERS WERE WILLING TO DIE FOR THE RIGHT TO CONTROL THEIR OWN LIVES. THEY WERE NOT SEEKING WAR WITH THE MOST POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH IN 1776. THEY WERE NOT ATTEMPTING TO DICTATE TO KING GEORGE III HOW THE ENGLISH SHOULD BEHAVE. THEY SOUGHT ONLY FREE WILL FOR AMERICA TO DETERMINE ITS OWN COURSE.

I AM HONORED TO HAVE BEEN ASKED TO SPEAK BY THE FRIENDS OF THE WORKING MEN’S INSTITUTE, THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA AND THE NEW HARMONY KIWANIS CLUB. WHEN MY FRIENDS, JEANNE AND NATHAN MAUDLIN, CONTACTED ME THEY ASKED ME TO ADDRESS ISSUES SWIRLING AROUND AMERICA’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. I BELIEVE THEY THOUGHT I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE SERVED IN IT. WHILE I AM PROUD TO BE AN HONORABLY DISCHARGED VETERAN IT IS NOT TRUE THAT I SERVED DURING THE REVOLUTION. THERE WAS NO UNITED STATES AIR FORCE IN 1776.

HOWEVER, I DO UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE TO GET A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF HISTORY. ALL OF US WISH WE COULD ASK OUR PARENTS ABOUT THINGS LONG PAST OR PERHAPS HAVE A CHANCE TO ASK PAST HEROES SUCH AS GEORGE WASHINGTON OR JAMES MADISON WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN THOSE SECRET MEETINGS IN PHILADELPHIA THAT PRODUCED OUR CONSTITUTION.

FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF MY HEROINES IS FRANCES (MAD FANNY) WRIGHT, THAT FIGHTER FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS, BLACK RIGHTS AND FREEDOM FROM RELIGION WHO SPOKE HERE IN NEW HARMONY ON JULY 04, 1828. OH HOW MUCH WE COULD LEARN IF WE COULD SPEAK WITH HER NOW. THEN I REMEMBERED WE MAY HAVE SOMEONE WITH US HERE TODAY WHO MAY HAVE KNOWN MAD FANNY AND WHAT SHE REALLY THOUGHT. IS MY FRIEND CHARLIE GASTON HERE? HELLO CHARLIE. DO YOU MIND ME ASKING? DIDN’T YOU USE TO DATE MAD FANNY WRIGHT? WELL, THANKS. MAYBE WE CAN TALK ABOUT MAD FANNY LATER AT MACLURE PARK OVER A HOT DOG.

ANOTHER OF THE GREAT INDEPENDENCE TYPE QUESTIONS THOSE OF US PRIVILEGED TO LIVE IN POSEY COUNTY OFTEN PONDER IS WHY DID FATHER GEORGE RAPP’S CELIBATE RELIGIOUS COMMUNE LAST FROM 1814 TO 1825, BUT ROBERT OWEN’S ATHEISTIC ENLIGHTENMENT COMMUNE ONLY MADE IT ABOUT THREE YEARS FROM 1825 TO 1828? WELL, IN DOING RESEARCH FOR TODAY’S GATHERING I READ THAT AT THEIR FOURTH OF JULY GALAS FATHER RAPP’S RAPPITES GAVE OUT FREE BEER, BUT ACCORDING TO ROBERT OWEN’S FOURTH OF JULY SPEECH IN 1826 OWEN CALLED FOR HIS FOLLOWERS TO “…ABANDON THE USE OF SPIRITOUS LIQUORS ….” APPARENTLY WE CAN MAKE IT WITHOUT SEX, BUT NOT WITHOUT BEER. THAT’S ANOTHER OF THOSE FREE-WILL OPTIONS WE CELEBRATE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.

*CONTROL*

ISN’T THAT WHAT MATTERS MOST TO ALL OF US? THE VISCERAL NEED FOR THE FREEDOM TO MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES IS WHY ON THAT DAY WE NOW CALL PATRIOT’S DAY, APRIL 19, 1775, AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD THOSE SUPPRESSED COLONISTS, “FIRED THE SHOTS HEARD ’ROUND THE WORLD”. AND IN OUR CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE, WHEN AMERICANS TODAY GET EMBROILED IN POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS IT SOMETIMES FEELS AS IF BOTH SIDES HAVE MUSKETS AT THE READY.

WHEN I FIND MYSELF SURROUNDED BY THE COMPETING POLITICAL MINI BALLS I TRY TO REMEMBER TO REMIND MYSELF THIS IS NOTHING NEW. OVER THE TWO OR THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS WE HOMO SAPIENS HAVE BEEN AROUND, AFTER AIR, WATER, FOOD, SHELTER AND PROCREATION, WE SEEM TO HAVE TWO MORE BASIC NEEDS: THE CONTROL OF OUR OWN LIVES; AND THE STRONG DESIRE TO CONTROL THE THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIOR OF OTHERS. THESE TWO RELATED BUT DIRECTLY OPPOSITIONAL IMPULSES APPLY TO GROUPS OF PEOPLE AND NATIONS AS WELL. YOU KNOW, WE WILL EACH DEFEND TO THE DEATH THE RIGHT OF OUR POLITICAL ADVERSARIES TO AGREE WITH US. BUT CONVERSATIONS CAN RAPIDLY TURN TO CONFRONTATION IF SOMEONE COMES DOWN ON WHAT WE BELIEVE IS THE WRONG SIDE OF SUCH ISSUES AS RELIGION, GLOBAL WARMING, IMMIGRATION, WAR AND PEACE, AND ESPECIALLY TODAY, WHO SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE RIGHT TO CONTROL OUR OWN LIVES MAKES US SMILE. THE DESIRE TO CONTROL OTHER PEOPLES’ LIVES CAN LEAD TO SUCH THINGS AS VITRIOLIC STATEMENTS AND SOMETIMES EVEN VICIOUS INTERCHANGES IN OUR PUBLIC INTERACTIONS. SOMETIMES THE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT CONTROL MAY CENTER ON SEXUAL ASSAULT AND THE “ME TOO MOVEMENT” OR HATE CRIMES AND “BLACK LIVES MATTER” OR PERHAPS EVEN QUESTIONS OF WAR AND PEACE.

RAPE IS A TERRIBLE CRIME NOT BECAUSE OF FORCED SEXUAL CONTACT, BILLIONS OF HUMANS HAVE HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS. NO, RAPE IS A TERRIBLE CRIME BECAUSE OF THE VICTIMS’ LOSS OF THEIR RIGHT TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES WHETHER AND WITH WHOM TO HAVE SEX. THE FEAR, TERROR, ANGER AND HUMILIATION CAUSED BY LOSING TOTAL CONTROL OF ONE’S BODY IS INCALCULABLE. IT IS IN ITSELF A LIFE SENTENCE THAT CAN LEAD TO PERMANENT BITTERNESS TOWARD AND DISTRUST OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM. MUCH AS LYNCHINGS CAN RESULT IN AN ENTIRE RACE OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH CONSTANT CONCERN ABOUT THEIR FREEDOM.

LYNCHINGS, SUCH AS THOSE THAT WERE COMMITTED ON OUR POSEY COUNTY COURTHOUSE LAWN ON OCTOBER 12, 1878, ARE A COLLECTIVE DENIAL OF ANOTHER’S RIGHT TO CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY. AND IT IS NOT JUST THE VICTIMS WHO LOSE, BUT EVEN THOSE WHO DENY JUSTICE TO OTHERS MAY REAP THE WHIRLWINDS OF RETALIATION AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.

WARS OF AGGRESSION, NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY AUTHORIZED WARS FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE, ARE OUR COUNTRY’S INTENTIONAL DENIAL OF ANOTHER COUNTRY’S OR PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INDEPENDENTLY DETERMINE THEIR OWN DESTINY. ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF OUR COUNTRY’S POST-WWII DENIALS OF THE RIGHT OF OTHER COUNTRIES TO CONTROL THEIR OWN LIVES ARE WARS INSTIGATED BY INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE ACTION WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION.

WE CAN EACH QUICKLY CITE EVIDENCE OF SUCH WARS BASED ON FALSE PREMISES AND RASH EXECUTIVE ACTION. PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON USED THE SHAKY PREMISE OF THE TONKIN GULF RESOLUTION TO GET US HOPELESSLY EMBROILED IN VIETNAM. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH RELIED ON FALSE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT IRAQ HAD WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND WAS INVOLVED IN 9/11. PRESIDENT BUSH THEN PRECIPITOUSLY LED US INTO WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN ENDLESS AND POINTLESS WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST. AND NOW, IF WE IN AMERICA AS LED BY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, INSIST ON CONTROLLING IRAN, IT COULD BE THE PERSIAN GULF WAR REDÜX BASED ON THE PRETEXT OF TORPEDOED OIL TANKERS OR DOWNED DRONES. AS PETE SEEGER’S SONG “WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?” ASKS US, “WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?, WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?”

OUR FOUNDERS’ WISDOM OF PLACING THE AUTHORITY TO WAGE WAR IN CONGRESS IS THAT SUCH A PROCEDURE KEEPS ALL OF OUR CITIZENS MORE CLOSELY INVOLVED IN THESE GRAVE DECISIONS. AND, IT REQUIRES MUCH MORE CAREFUL DELIBERATION WHEN CONGRESS IS INVOLVED. ALSO, WHEN WE ELIMINATED THE MILITARY DRAFT WE TURNED FROM A CITIZEN MINUTE MAN TYPE MILITARY TO A PROFESSIONAL AND LESS ECUMENICAL TYPE FORCE. TO MAKE THE TRAGIC CHOICE TO GO TO WAR ALL AMERICANS SHOULD FEEL THE DIRECT COST. THAT’S ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE WENT FROM 1918 TO 1941 AT PEACE. BUT AFTER WE ENDED THE DRAFT WE HAVE NEVER BEEN WITHOUT CONFLICT. IT IS TOO EASY TO HIRE OTHERS TO IMPOSE OUR WILL ON THE POWERLESS. WITH A PROFESSIONAL STANDING MILITARY OUR ARMED FORCES NEVER STAND DOWN AND THE TEMPTATION FOR ANY OF OUR PRESIDENTS TO PLAY WITH THESE AWESOME POWERS AS IF THEY WERE TOY SOLDIERS IS TOO INTOXICATING FOR MOST TO RESIST.

ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS WE RECEIVED FROM ONE OF OUR BRITISH COUSINS AND THE IDEALS ROBERT OWEN’S COMMUNE ASCRIBED TO, WERE JOHN LOCKE’S ENLIGHTENMENT PHILOSOPHIES AS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS. OUR INDEPENDENCE AS A NATION HAS SURVIVED GREAT TRAUMA DUE IN LARGE PART TO OUR GOVERNMENT’S THREE SEPARATE AND EQUAL POWERS: EXECUTIVE; LEGISLATIVE; AND, JUDICIAL. WE FORGET THIS AT OUR PERIL.

OUR FOUNDERS UNDERSTOOD HUMAN NATURE. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE AN ELECTED PRESIDENT INSTEAD OF AN ANOINTED KING. IT SEEMS THAT ALMOST NO MATTER WHO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE IS, THE TEMPTATION TO CONTROL OTHERS BY MILITARY MIGHT IS IRRESISTIBLE. CONTROL OF OUR LIVES IS AN INHERENT NEED FOR INDIVIDUALS AND NATIONS AND, IF LOST, CAN LEAD TO LONG-TERM BAD EFFECTS FOR BOTH THE INVADERS AND THE INVADED.

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO PEG AND I ATTENDED A RODEO IN OSAGE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA WHERE THIRTY-FIVE COMPETING COWBOYS WERE INTRODUCED AS THEY HELD A GIGANTIC AMERICAN FLAG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ARENA. EACH COWBOY STOOD AT ATTENTION AS HE HELD THE FLAG WITH ONE HAND AND HELD HIS WESTERN HAT OVER HIS HEART WITH THE OTHER WHILE A COWGIRL ON HORSEBACK SANG “THE NATIONAL ANTHEM”. IT WAS A MOVING EXPERIENCE FOR PEG AND ME AS WE STOOD AT ATTENTION WITH OUR HANDS OVER OUR HEARTS. IT MADE ME THINK ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE AND SILENT PROTESTS BY PLAYERS AS WELL AS RAISED FISTS AT THE 1972 OLYMPICS AND MEMBERS OF THE U.S.A.’S WOMENS SOCCER TEAM WHO CHOOSE TO STAND BUT NOT PLACE THEIR HANDS OVER THEIR HEARTS. WHAT A FEELING OF FREEDOM IT SHOULD GIVE US ALL WHEN OUR FELLOW CITIZENS VOICE THEIR DISSENT EVEN IF WE DISAGREE WITH THEIR POSITIONS. THESE PATRIOTS HARKEN BACK TO PATRICK HENRY AND HIS PREFERENCE FOR DEATH OVER A LIFE WITHOUT CHOICE.

DISSENT BY OTHERS, ESPECIALLY BY THOSE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO MY BELIEFS, HELPS TO REMIND ME INDEPENDENCE DAY IS ONE OF LIFE’S GREATEST GIFTS AND REINFORCES MY GRATITUDE TO OUR FOURTH OF JULY 1776 HEROES. IT MAKES ME THINK OF JAMES MADISON AND HIS DEMAND THAT THE FIRST TEN AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION BE ADOPTED.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS THE ULTIMATE RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOICE: FREEDOM OF AND FROM RELIGION; FREEDOM OF SPEECH; AND, THE FREEDOM TO PETITION OUR GOVERNMENT WHETHER IN WRITING OR BY DEMONSTRATION. I AM PROUD THAT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IF PEG AND I WANT TO STAND FOR “THE NATIONAL ANTHEM” OR FOR ANY OTHER CAUSE, SUCH AS “THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS” OR THE “INDIANA UNIVERSITY FIGHT SONG”, WE MAY. AND, IF OTHERS DO NOT WISH TO, THEY HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO. EVEN THOSE MISGUIDED PEOPLE FROM PURDUE UNIVERSITY, PROFESSOR SCHUETTE.

FOR SOME REASON THAT RODEO EXPERIENCE REMINDED ME OF WHAT OUR SOLDIER SON, JIM, TOLD US HE OBSERVED WHEN HE VISITED THE OLD SOVIET UNION BEFORE THE WALL CAME DOWN AND BEFORE HE WAS SENT TO WAR IN IRAQ. JIM SAID WHEN HE HAPPENED TO SEE OTHER AMERICANS IN THE OLD USSR HE COULD ALWAYS PICK THEM OUT FROM THE CROWD OF RUSSIANS BECAUSE THE AMERICANS WERE THE ONLY ONES SMILING.

THEN WHEN I WAS SENT BY THE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE TO TEACH UKRAINIAN JUDGES IN 2000 AND THEN TO RUSSIA TO TEACH RUSSIAN JUDGES IN 2003 I HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES. IN UKRAINE I TOOK THEIR DILAPIDATED GREY SUBWAY TRAIN AND WAS CRAMMED IN WITH MANY UKRAINIAN MEN AND WOMEN AND ONE BOY ABOUT SIX YEARS OLD. THE ADULTS WERE ALL DRESSED IN DARK CLOTHING AND HAD SOBER DARK EXPRESSIONS. NO ONE SMILED OR NODDED HELLO. THEN I CAUGHT THE LITTLE BOY’S EYE AND SMILED AT HIM. AT FIRST HE ALMOST SMILED BACK THEN CAST DOWN HIS EYES.

IN RUSSIA PEG WAS WITH ME AND WE TOOK THE SUBWAY TO SEE THE ONION DOMES OF THE KREMLIN. PEG HAD ON A LIGHT BLUE COAT AND I WAS WEARING MY RED SKI JACKET. EVERY OTHER PERSON ON THE TRAIN HAD ON DARK CLOTHES AND DOUR FACES. WHEN PEG AND I SMILED AT ONE ANOTHER BECAUSE WE WERE HAPPY TO BE IN MOSCOW TOGETHER WE WERE THE ONLY ONES SMILING. THAT’S WHEN WE REALIZED WHAT FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE AND THE FOURTH OF JULY ARE ALL ABOUT. WE ARE CONFIDENT WE HAVE THE RIGHT AS AMERICANS TO CONTROL OUR OWN DESTINIES. THAT MEANS EVERYTHING. AND THAT IS WHY WHEN AMERICANS ARE SEEN AMONG THE PEOPLE OF OTHER NATIONS OFTEN THE AMERICANS ARE THE ONLY ONES SMILING. BUT IF WE INSIST ON IMPOSING OUR WILL ON OTHER COUNTRIES OR UPON ONE ANOTHER, WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THEY DO NOT SMILE BACK.

WE CAN KEEP SMILING AS LONG AS OUR FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS RESPECT OUR OPINIONS AND THEY WILL KEEP SMILING AT US AS LONG AS WE RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO THEIR OPINIONS.

UH OH, I THINK I HEAR THE OFF-KEY STRAINS OF “THE DOXOLOGY”, SO THANKS AND I’LL SEE YOU LATER FOR HOT DOGS AT MACLURE PARK. THAT IS, OF COURSE, IF YOU INDEPENDENTLY CHOOSE TO GO THERE. AND MAYBE WE CAN ASK CHARLIE GASTON ABOUT MAD FANNY WRIGHT. THANKS.

Ageless Wisdom

by Leave a Comment

When Jeanne and Nathan Maudlin as representatives of New Harmony, Indiana’s Working Men’s Institute that along with the University of Southern Indiana and the New Harmony Kiwanis Club is helping sponsor this year’s New Harmony Fourth of July celebration asked me to speak, my first thought was to research prior speeches. I am a judge after all and precedent is important to me. Jeanne graciously sent me a copy of the excellent book, New Harmony’s Fourth of July Tradition, by Donald Pitzer and Josephine Elliott.

The book includes verbatim Fourth of July speeches given by Robert Owen (1826), William Owen (1827) and Frances (Mad Fanny) Wright (1828). Each talk contains observations and advice that address issues that could have been found on the front pages of today’s newspapers or on T.V. news programs. War and peace, racial problems, women’s rights, religious discrimination and freedom of thought and action are exposited clearly.

Independence as declared on July 04, 1776 and our country’s often slow and incremental progress toward accomplishing the ideals encapsulated in our Constitution are referenced or implied in each address. As Frances Wright explained, the genius of our Founders was they gave us a government that we could change if we needed and wanted. Mad Fanny was called mad in 1828 because she called for freedom from religion, freedom for enslaved Negroes, equality for women and liberty from wars of aggression for the United States of America and all other countries. As not so mad Fanny might observe today, America has made substantial progress toward these ideals through incremental, democratic, constitutional change. Of course, we still have work to do.

In his address on July 04, 1827 William Owen, Robert’s twenty-five year old son, concentrated on the evils of superstition and bloody wars of aggression as egged on by various religions. And William Owen thanked the heroes of July 04, 1776 for fighting for our liberty and freedom of speech:

“Are we prepared to exercise the right, as we enjoy the power, secured to us by the heroes of the revolution, of expressing our thoughts openly and sincerely? Are we willing to run the risks they encountered? Are we ready like them to meet the prejudices of past times, to risk name and reputation in the cause of truth, – in defense of the honest expression of our opinions?”

William both recognized the sacrifices made by our Founders and cautioned of the repercussions should we fail to follow our own Constitution:

“Man had been slowly but gradually freeing himself from that thraldom in which he was so long enslaved, when our ancestors, on that day, the anniversary of which we this morning celebrate, by one bold step recovered that state of liberty and independence, which is the birthright of humanity, and gave a death blow, to the unnatural league between despotism and superstition, by the adoption of a Constitution, which forever precludes, so long as adhered to, the recurrence of such an unhappy connection.”

Robert Owen, whose vision of humanity and equality was the bedrock of the secular commune of New Harmony, 1825-1828 (c), on July 04, 1826 fearlessly stated his view as to the root cause of the world’s evils:

“Religion, or Superstition – for all religions have proved themselves to be Superstitions, – by destroying the judgment, irrationalized all the mental faculties of man, and made him the most abject slave, through the fear of non-entities created solely by his own disordered imagination.”

Owen was a wealthy industrialist who cared about his workers and their families. He put in place many of the better conditions of employment that eventually were adopted by the United States of America, and other countries. Owen fought for women’s equality, freedom from religion and the avoidance of wars of aggression. And along with numerous other idealists such as his own sons, William Maclure of the Working Men’s Institute fame and Frances Wright, Robert Owen established a legacy that all of us in Posey County should treasure.

Gentle Reader, if you wish to help carry on New Harmony’s Fourth of July traditions of celebrating our Independence, the festivities begin the morning of July 04, 2019 at the Atheneum in New Harmony. Peg and I plan to be there and look forward to the reading of the Declaration of Independence by our friend Chuck Minnette as well as a golf cart parade, hot dogs and patriotic music. Hope to see you there. Happy birthday!