Enumerated Update

I started drafting this entry on Friday and Saturday while the immigration debacle was unfolding. Therefore, it pertains to the Women's March on Washington of last weekend instead of the various marches that took place this weekend.  

1) How are your nerves? If you have watched any news at all, you may be having an emotional response to the upheaval. I haven't seen a particularly good article on this yet, but it would be good to remember that freedom of speech was given the number one slot in the Bill of Rights for a reason... because the founding fathers expected contentious debate, because they were constantly having debates themselves.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2) Women's March on Washington

The girls had a science olympiad last Saturday, but we marched in spirit for

a) Women's equality - women still earn $.70/$1.00 that men earn

b) Misogyny/violence against women - our duo will attend college in a few short years, and we are deeply concerned about the frequency of assault on campuses and at large

c) Immigration - the duo's closest friends are first generation, Mexican-American citizens. The duo have celebrated birthdays and holidays with these friends, and we stand with them. Doing so is easy for us because we recognize that every person standing on American soil today either descended from Native American Indians, immigrants or some combination thereof

d) The environment - we believe the scientific data, and we want to be good stewards of the earth

3) Jefferson/Resist: Like James Monroe when crafting the Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson also anticipated heated discourse over policy.  

What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the spirit of resistance?-- Thomas Jefferson

4) Gaslighting: I am not going to play amateur psychologist and attempt to diagnose the erratic nature of last week. However, I will share this article about "gas lighting"because I found it useful. Skip and I have been debating whether or not the administration's behaviors are  a) symptomatic of mental illness or b) strategic in nature.  [Edited to add: Certainly, there appears to be a huge element of inexperience at play.]

5) On a lighter note: GREENVILLE, SC—After 36 hours on the run through the woodlands of South Carolina, a bloodied and exhausted Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly cowered behind the trunk of a willow tree Wednesday as President Donald Trump's vicious hunting dogs closed in on him. 

I don't know about y'all, but I really needed that laugh. 

.........

Have a wonderful weekend. 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

MLK Jr.