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Of Founders and Russians

October 19, 2019 by Jim 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

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Events, Foreign Intervention, Gavel Gamut, Judicial, Presidential Campaign, Russia, Ukraine Tagged With: anti-Federalists, Federalists, foreign assets, Gentle Reader, Harvard law professor Michael Klarman, James M. Redwine, James Madison, Jim Redwine, Of Founders and Russians, President Trump, Russia, Secretary Clinton, The Framers’ Coup the Making of the United States Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, Ukraine, United States Constitution, United States Supreme Court

Cowboy Up!

August 23, 2019 by Jim Leave a Comment

Before October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 American boys knew who they admired and what they wanted to be, cowboys. From the days of Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix to Hopalong Cassidy and the Durango Kid until Gene Autry and Roy Rogers boys of all backgrounds dreamed the same dream. Then America watched as our global boogeyman leapfrogged over us and put us in fear of destruction from above. Cowboys’ six guns became obsolete and American boys, girls too, dreamed of being astronauts. John Glenn orbited the earth aboard a new fire-breathing steed and from 1957 until Clint Eastwood’s movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly that came out in 1966 during the throes of the Viet Nam War American boys left cowboys in the dust. However, since this is America, a sense of emergency and panic can only be maintained a short while before we revert to our roots.

As a one-time American boy I made the same progression. I fell back from my completely unrealistic dream of becoming a physicist to my only somewhat unrealistic, albeit subdued and hidden yearning, to be a cowboy. Returning to the days of Gene Autry was much easier than facing the reality that I will not be helping to settle Mars. However, the declining dreams of a young boy are themselves sometimes painful to reconstruct when one is separated from them by time. But the fates did recently allow me an opportunity to kind of revisit those thrilling days of yesteryear. I got to herd one cow.

Now, when I was playing cowboys and Indians with the neighborhood boys in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma in the 1950’s several of my friends were, in fact, real Indians and several of them were, in fact, the sons of real cowboys. Of course, since we boys had not yet had the advantage of adult myopia we were unaffected by the niceties of who was supposed to be what. We all were whatever the scenario we thought up called for. Alas, we grew up, sort of.

However, let me return to my recent opportunity to turn back the clock to the dreams of grade school days. When Peg and I bought a cabin in rural Osage County a few months ago we not only found a new home but also a new friend who was the prior owner and a real cowboy. How lucky was that? Anyway, Johnny runs some cattle on our place and those cattle are like the rest of us; they do not always stay put. Occasionally a cow will find its way out onto the public road. Such was the case yesterday. So, as my brother and I were heading to Bartlesville about 20 miles from our cabin to run errands for Peg, we encountered a large black cow with a white face happily munching on the right-of-way bluestem grass. I saw my chance to live that five-year-old boy’s dreams.

I jumped out of my pickup and approached that cow with a confidence that can only come from ignorance. As I got closer and closer to the bovine behemoth, instead of her fearing me as I anticipated she took the attitude of a large animal upset by someone interrupting her dinner. Having neither horse nor rope nor the ability to use either had I had them I retreated and called for backup on my cell phone.

“Johnny, it’s Jim. One of your cows is out.”

“Jim, I’m in Oklahoma City.”

“Johnny, what the devil do you want me to do?”

“Why, nothing Jim, unless you want to. I’ll be back in The Osage in a few hours and I’ll deal with it. This is cowboy work.”

Well, Johnny is obviously a true psychologist as that last statement cut deep into my boyhood psyche. I just clicked off my phone and girded my loins up about me as I ran towards Miss Bossie and waved my arms. Apparently she was so amused she decided to amble back into her pasture and I shut the gate behind her.

Now I know some of you Gentle Readers are probably thinking this event may not be quite as impressive as The Lone Ranger cleaning out a nest of rustlers. But to me it’s just a matter of degree. They both qualify for cowboy status. My dreams have finally come true. I’m going to buy a hat and boots and find a drugstore where I can prop my boots up on the bar rail, tip my hat back and sip a sarsaparilla.

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Filed Under: America, Gavel Gamut, JPeg Osage Ranch, Oklahoma, Osage County, Russia Tagged With: Astronauts, bluestem grass, cattle, Clint Eastwood, cowboys, Durango Kid, Gene Autry, Gentle Readers, Hoot Gibson, Hopalong Cassidy, Indians, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, John Glenn, Johnny Kelley, Oklahoma, Osage County, Pawhuska, Roy Rogers, sarsaparilla, Soviet Union, Sputnik 1, Tom Mix

Sticks And Stones

July 27, 2019 by Jim Leave a Comment

Special Consul Robert Mueller testified before Congress on July 24, 2019. During his six hours of testimony before the House Judiciary Committee the major emphasis shifted from concerns about the outcome of the 2016 presidential election to attempts by foreign countries to influence all of our elections.

Mueller testified that for many years and right up to our next election cycle in 2020 several foreign entities were involving themselves in our democracy. And while Mueller specified only Russia for 2016 he made it clear that we should be aware of other actors. Iran, Israel and even our first cousins the British, among numerous others, have sought to inveigle themselves into our governmental decisions.

We have often been subtlety and sometimes not so subtlety nudged toward or away from war or toward or away from alliances with other countries. The favored techniques in days before the internet were the planting of fake newspaper stories or biased books and movies. Today spy dossiers or misleading memes and tweets over the internet are the preferred methods.

But if the aim of a foreign country is to defame or embarrass a politician it seems silly to dispense dirty secrets or even create false ones when such disclosures and prejudiced articles appear in the newspapers and on television every day. For example, if a country wanted to defame Donald Trump it should just encourage Americans to read The New York Times or watch CNN. And if a foreign entity wished to bring down Hillary Clinton it should republish stories from The National Enquirer or push FOX News. There is no need for foreign attempts to bring down a candidate for public office when we do such a thorough job of that ourselves.

What is even more perplexing is why any foreign country cares about our elections when we care so little about the outcomes ourselves. About 40% of eligible voters do not vote in presidential elections and only about 40% trouble themselves to vote in mid-term national elections. And when it comes to state, county and city elections most of the voters are those hoping to get jobs from the winners.

The bottom line may be that foreign entities are often more concerned with the outcomes of our elections than we are. Maybe we should learn from them.

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Elections, Foreign Intervention, Gavel Gamut, Presidential Campaign, Russia Tagged With: Britain, CNN, Donald Trump, fake newspaper stories, Foreign intervention in elections, Fox News National Enquirer, Hillary Clinton, House Judiciary Committee, Iran, Israel, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, misleading memes, presidential elections, Russia, Special Consul Robert Mueller, spy dossiers, The New York Times, tweets, voters

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

July 5, 2019 by Jim 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.

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Events, Gavel Gamut, New Harmony, Oklahoma, Osage County, Patriotism, Posey County, Posey County Lynchings, Russia, Women's Rights Tagged With: James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, New Harmony 4th of July celebration

Rattling Sabres

May 10, 2019 by Jim Leave a Comment

Folk singer Phil Ochs (1940-1976) wrote a ballad about old people, mainly politicians, giving young people orders on how they should behave and believe. The closing verse is:

“So keep right on a talking
And tell us what to do.
If nobody listens,
My apologies to you.
And I know that you were younger once
‘Cause you sure are older now,
So when I got something to say, Sir,
I’m going to say it now.”

Ochs applied his sarcastic insight to the United States as well. In a song he wrote about American incursions from South America to Southeast Asia he criticized our government for interfering militarily when a country elected a leader we did not like and could not control:

“We’ll find you a leader
You can elect.”

Just based on media reports of our current actions in Venezuela and Iran, among others, Ochs’ message has had little resonance for our contemporary leaders. And hearing people on all sides of the military intervention issue from President Trump to each of the twenty-one 2020 presidential hopefuls and everyday folks from Maine to Monterey, perhaps Ochs might agree with Yogi Berra (1925-2015): “It’s deja vu all over again.”

That is not to say either Ochs or Berra or anyone else should encourage America to cease vigilantly preparing for danger. As our son, Jim Redwine, learned from personal experience while fighting on the front lines of the 1990-1991 Gulf War and in 2006-2007 in the Iraq War, we must not allow ourselves to fall behind the curve of military technology. Iraq’s military technology simply could not compare to ours. America must not allow itself to be on the weak side of the military equation.

What that concern does not require though is our penchant as the world’s preeminent military power to “Keep right on telling others what to do and whom they should elect.” Our power should remain potentially dominant but our desire to dominate other countries should remain in check. Our Constitution calls for “national defense”, not aggression.

With our current yearly national debt standing at 104.1% of our total gross national product it might behoove us to look to the source of this imbalance between production and debt. It began when we decided to drive the old Soviet Union into financial collapse via its military spending. Unfortunately our own spending rapidly increased from 30.9% of debt to GNP in 1981 mainly through our own massive military spending to where we are today. That is spending a lot of money we do not have. And it is always a good idea to learn from the mistakes of others. We do not want to become a broke and crumbling version of the old Soviet Union due to our own overspending on unnecessary world-wide military incursions.

Perhaps we should do what Russia should have done fifty years ago and concentrate on our domestic needs such as infrastructure, health care, global warming and our environment while continuing to keep pace, but not be profligate, with our national defense. A reasonable first step might be a policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries as long as they return the favor.

I know we often get legitimately upset with the behaviors and cultures of other countries. But countries are made up of people and we may want to step back from the dangerous and expensive practice of telling others how to behave and believe. It is analogous to how many of us view Freedom of Speech. We will allow others to say whatever they want and behave as they see fit as long as they say and do what we agree with. As that wise Hoosier war correspondent Ernest T. Pyle (1900-1945) observed during WWII:

“When you have lived with the unnatural mass cruelty that mankind is capable of inflicting on itself, you find yourself dispossessed
of the faculty for blaming one poor man for the triviality of his faults.”

We might want to consider a similar thought for other countries and other peoples.

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Gavel Gamut, Middle East, Presidential Campaign, Russia, War Tagged With: current actions in Venezuela and Iran, environment, Ernest T. Pyle, financial collapse, folk singer Phil Ochs, Freedom of Speech, global warming, GNP, Gulf War, health care, Hoosier, infrastructure, Iraq War, It’s deja vu all over again, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, keep right on telling others what to do and whom they should elect, military intervention, military technology, national debt, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries, President Trump, rattling sabres, Russia, sarcastic insight to the United States, Soviet Union, we’ll find you a leader you can elect, Yogi Berra

Justice In A Box

January 25, 2019 by Jim Leave a Comment

What happened to Christmas? Only one month ago there were carols, candles, colored lights, presents and happy people. Then came January and cold, grey gloomy weather with glum people wondering where the sun went.

On the other hand, if you are in need of more self-flagellation you could be where American Paul Whelan is, a courtroom in the glummest of all places, Russia in January. You talk about grey. Being in Moscow and Volgograd, Russia in the winter of 2003 was like living inside a wet, icy-cold burlap bag for Peg and me. And as our son, Jim, says, “You can always pick out the American tourists from the Russian natives, the Americans are the only ones smiling”.

Of course, as in all of life there are a few positives of the Russian winter. Russian’s three greatest military generals are January, February and March. Just ask Napoleon and Hitler. And when the National Judicial College sent me to Russia in 2003 to teach Russian judges about jury trials Peg and I spent four days in Volgograd (the old Stalingrad) where a million and a half Russian soldiers and half a million German soldiers slaughtered one another in six months. It is analogous to America multiplying our Civil War by three and cramming it into half of 1863. No wonder so many Russians are not smiling.

Another reason not to smile is the Russian legal system, especially what they call jury trials. That is why the NJC sent me there. In January 2003 Russia had once again, as part of the country’s long history of their fits and starts “right to trial by jury”, reinstituted some jury trials for some alleged crimes. The NJC tasked me to teach Russian judges from all over Russia how America tries jury cases. I do not know what I was able to impart to the Russian judges, but Peg and I sure learned a lot. Mainly we learned that by a mere accident of birth we received one of life’s greatest gifts, American citizenship.

These recollections were brought back to me when I saw a photograph in the Palm Beach Sun Sentinel newspaper of Paul Whelan in a cage in a Russian courtroom. Hang on. I know it’s Florida, but as you can readily see I am not just lounging on the beach. I am working; at least I am writing this column.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I have no idea if the former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is a spy as charged by Russia. He says he is not, what a surprise. However, he received a Bad Conduct Discharge from the Marines for theft and he has citizenship in four countries, United States, Ireland, Canada and Great Britain. That sounds suspicious but may just mean he likes Anglo Saxons. That alone might make him a suspect in Russia, a country that used to be the heart of the old Soviet Union with its conglomeration of fifteen countries and seventy-seven languages, none of which had an Anglo, Saxon or Celtic base.

What the photographs show is Whelan in a cage, in a courtroom, trying to communicate through a translator with his attorney and through the bars and in front of everyone. When the Russian judges asked me to critique a jury trial of a man charged with murdering two people, I had difficulty being diplomatic. With the judge and jury in place and the Russian prosecutor wearing a blue military type uniform seated between the mothers of the two murder victims right in front of the jury, the courtroom doors burst open and this is what Peg and I and the judge and jury saw: four guards armed with AK 47 rifles escorting the handcuffed defendant into court and locking him into a cage.

 Well, Gentle Reader, you see the problem.

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Gavel Gamut, Judicial, Law, Russia Tagged With: AK 47, Gentle Reader, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, Justice In A Box, Moscow, murder victims' mothers, Paul Whelan, Russia's three great generals January February March, Russian defendant cage, Russian prosecutor, spy suspect, Stalingrad, trial by jury, Volgograd

© 2020 James M. Redwine

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